Monsanto's Celebrex Prescriptions Reach 55,000 [in 2 weeks](Correct)
Bloomberg News
February 1, 1999, 4:19 p.m. ET
Monsanto's Celebrex Prescriptions Reach 55,000 (Correct)
(Corrects that prescriptions reached 55,000 in two weeks,
not one.)
St. Louis, Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Monsanto Co.'s new
arthritis drug Celebrex had 55,000 prescriptions in its first two
weeks on the market, according to NDC Health Information
Services, putting the painkiller on target to become a
blockbuster.
The first of a new class of painkillers that appear to have
fewer side effects than existing drugs, Celebrex had about 10,000
prescriptions for the week ending Jan. 24, NDC said. In contrast,
Warner-Lambert Co.'s cholesterol reducer Lipitor had less than
12,000 prescriptions by its second week on the market, NDC said.
Lipitor was considered the most successful drug introduction
before Pfizer Inc. introduced the anti-impotence pill Viagra this
year. Even with a wholesale cost of about $2.42 a day, Monsanto's
Celebrex is finding many buyers. The drug represents one of the
few advances in arthritis treatment in the past two decades,
analysts have said.
''People have heard so much about it and there's huge
demand,'' said Hemant Shah, an independent drug analyst.
Monsanto, based in St. Louis, rose 1/8 to 47 11/16. Monsanto
sells Celebrex through a partnership with Pfizer, considered to
be one of the drug industry's best marketers. Pfizer, based in
New York, rose 3 7/8 to 132.
NDC Health supplies these numbers as part of its DirectRx
Daily service.
Celebrex and Vioxx, a drug developed by Merck & Co., are
part of a class of drugs known as Cox-2 inhibitors, designed to
offer the same benefits as current painkillers with fewer side
effects such as bleeding and ulcers for people who take pain
medication for chronic conditions such as arthritis.
Monsanto's Searle drug unit won U.S. approval on Dec. 31 to
sell Celebrex for treating osteoarthritis and rheumatoid
arthritis, putting it months ahead of Merck, the world's biggest
drugmaker, in introducing the first of the new drugs. Analysts
have said the Cox-2 drugs can achieve annual sales of as much as
$5 billion.
The Cox-2 drugs will compete with painkillers sold by a
range of companies, including SmithKline Beecham Plc, American
Home Products Corp. and Roche Holding AG.
--Kerry Dooley in the Washington newsroom (202) 624-1820 /mfr
news.com |
