3/22 (Dow Jones) Celebrex Prescriptions In 9th Wk Top Viagra's 9-Wk Mark
By Otesa Middleton
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Monsanto Co.'s (MTC) Celebrex had more prescriptions written in its ninth week on the market than Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) Viagra tallied in its ninth week.
Celebrex, a new drug for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, recorded
279,183 prescriptions for the week ended March 12. According to pharmaceutical
auditor IMS Health Inc. (RX), that is up 5.8% when compared with prescriptions
written in the eighth week.
For the first time, Celebrex prescriptions surpassed those written for Viagra
during a comparable period. In the impotence drug's ninth week on the market,
it recorded 210,857 prescriptions.
Since Celebrex went on sale Jan. 15, 1.2 million prescriptions have been
written for it.
Celebrex is a new type of arthritis medicine. It is thought to be easier on
the stomach than other treatments because it attacks a specific enzyme called
Cox-2. The first such Cox-2 drug, Celebrex may face competition from Merck &
Co. (MRK), which takes its Cox-2 drug Vioxx to a U.S. Food and Drug
Administration panel April 20.
-Otesa Middleton; 202-862-6654
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 03-22-99
10:27 AM
|
