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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (601)	3/16/1998 9:18:00 PM
From: Nick	Respond to of 9523

Monday March 16, 8:37 pm Eastern Time FOCUS - Pfizer gains on hopes for 2 drug approvals (Updates, recasts, adds byline) By Ransdell Pierson NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc. [NYSE:PFE - news] shares jumped Monday on expectations the company will win U.S. marketing approvals this month for two prescription drugs: Viagra for male erectile dysfunction and Zeldox for schizophrenia, analysts said. Pfizer jumped $2 to $88 on the New York Stock Exchange, outpacing other large U.S. drugmakers. ''It looks like people are anticipating approval for Viagra,'' said Merrill Lynch [AMEX:OPG - news] analyst Stephen Buermann, who added he knew of no other factor helping Pfizer on Monday. Pfizer submitted a new drug application for Viagra (sildenafil) on September 29, 1997 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and was granted an accelerated six-month review. The agency is obliged to decide by March 29 whether to approve Viagra -- a compound which some analysts have predicted will become one of the best-selling drugs in history. Pfizer submitted its new drug application for Zeldox (ziprasidone) in March 1997 and received a normal one-year review. It is expected to receive the FDA's verdict on the drug later this month. Hambrecht & Quist analyst Alex Zisson agreed optimism about likely FDA approvals for the drugs was boosting Pfizer, whose year-to-date valuation has jumped 18 percent. That compares with a 16 percent gain for the American Stock Exchange Pharmaceutical Index, a grouping of two dozen large U.S. and British drug companies. ''Viagra is perhaps the biggest wild card in the history of the pharmaceutical industry. The potential is enormous,'' said Zisson, who noted some analysts have predicted eventual annual sales of $5 billion or more. The world's current top-selling prescription drug is Swedish drugmaker AB Astra's (ASTRa.ST) Losec, an ulcer medication sold in the United States as Prilosec in a joint venture with New Jersey's Merck & Co. (MRK - news). It had 1997 sales over $3.5 billion. Zisson said it was too early to predict Viagra sales because detailed clinical data about the pill have not been published, although the data are expected to be presented late May at the American Urological Association annual meeting in San Diego. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette analyst Kent Blair last week said hopes for Viagra were overblown. He predicted worldwide sales of only $900 million by the year 2000. ''Viagra will probably have a rapid uptake as many of the men with male erectile dysfunction are aware of the product. Once that initial burst of enthusiasm wanes, however, we believe that Pfizer's stock price could suffer,'' Blair said, adding few people below age 30 would likely need Viagra. Zisson said Zeldox could have annual sales of $200 million to $500 million within three years. He added it would compete with Eli Lilly and Co.'s (LLY - news) blockbuster drug Zyprexa (olanzapine), which was launched in late 1996 and garnered 1997 worldwide sales of $730 million. Zeldox will also compete with Zeneca Group Plc's (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: ZEN.L) Seroquel (quetiapine), which received U.S. marketing approval in September 1997. All three drugs work by stimulating activity of dopamine, one of the most important neurotransmitters -- or brain messenger chemicals. They have fewer side effects than older schizophrenia drugs which cause problems ranging from uncontrollable muscle movements to total rigidity and difficulty in swallowing. Schizophrenia is a chronic disorder affecting an estimated 3 million Americans -- one in every 100 people at some time in their lives. Its symptoms include delusions, hallucinations and emotional withdrawal. Data last year from a late-stage trial of Zeldox showed six percent of patients taking the drug for over six months relapsed, compared with 35 percent of those taking dummy pills.