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Biotech / Medical : Vivus: into single digits -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MIKE DUBIS who wrote (250)	4/18/1998 3:36:00 PM
From: MIKE DUBIS	Respond to of 1016

To All: VIAGRA news after the close on Friday. Friday April 17, 5:24 pm Eastern Time Drug analyst says Viagra sales appear enormous By Ransdell Pierson NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - New Jersey independent drug analyst Hemant Shah on Friday said initial sales of Pfizer Inc (PFE - news) impotence drug Viagra appear to be at ''unbelievably high'' levels of 15,000 to 20,000 new prescriptions a day, based upon market data obtained by him. Shah, who runs his own research firm HKS & Co, said the data were provided to him by Source Informatics of Phoenix, Ariz., which he said tracks sales of prescription drugs. In addition, Shah said his own survey of 40 drugstores in Brooklyn, N.Y., showed enormous demand for the pill. ''They (pharmacists) are telling me they can't keep it in stock and that both men and women are using it,'' said Shah, who was a sales representative for Merck and Co (MRK - news) before becoming an industry analyst. Pfizer began shipments of Viagra in the United States last week, but has not yet launched an advertising campaign for the pill, which it said proved effective in about 70 percent of men with erectile dysfunction tested in clinical trials. ''Data I'm receiving show Viagra is selling 20 to 25 times the prescriptions in its first days on the market as Lipitor did,'' Shah said, referring to Warner-Lambert Co.'s (WLA - news) blockbuster anti-cholesterol drug launched early last year. Drawing another comparison, Shah said daily new prescriptions of Viagra seemed to be running at least three times higher than those of Eli Lilly and Co's (LLY - news) flagship drug, the antidepressant Prozac. A clearer picture of Viagra sales will emerge Monday when IMS America, another company that tracks U.S. prescription trends, releases its weekly sales data. Shah told Reuters he had been wary of recent analyst projections Viagra would have spectacular annual sales. ''I was skeptical of estimates it would bring $3 billion, $5 billion, or $10 billion. But I'm no longer skeptical.'' The pills are priced about $7 each and improve blood flow to the penis by inhibiting an enzyme, phosphodiesterase. They are supposed to be taken about an hour before sexual activity. ABN-AMBRO drug analyst James Keeney cautioned that enormous early Viagra sales, if borne out, could be the result of pent-up demand caused by glaring media attention to the drug in recent months. ''We think it will definitely be a big-selling product,'' said Keeney, who projected annual sales of $1.8 billion by 2001. Keeney said the real concern is whether Viagra will remain popular after the initial rush to buy the drug. ''We hope sales will be sustained, that it's no flash in the pan,'' he said, adding that any slackening of demand would prove punishing to Pfizer shares which are trading at over 50 times expected 1998 earnings largely on faith in Viagra. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Quotes and News: Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY - news) Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK - news) Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE - news) Warner-Lambert Co (NYSE:WLA - news) Related News Categories: US Market News, health -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright c 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon