Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Perry who wrote (1788)	4/29/1998 5:15:00 PM
From: Doug Soon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

Perry, I agree completely. I think the insurance companies were scared spitless when Viagra was talked about as a $1B product. To a large part, that would be money out of the insurance companies pockets. If they can minimize this damage to their bottom lines, they will. I wonder what efforts are being made to have them carry at least a partial responsibility for ED patients costs? As for patients carrying any cost personally, this should not be a problem. I see billions (well a lot, anyway) spent by men for baldness cures and other snake oil remedies that are not paid for by insurance companies. People will still beat a path to Viagra's door and I think the next few weeks will confirm that.DS

To: Perry who wrote (1788)	4/29/1998 5:16:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Pfizer Inc. Reiterated 'Buy' at Aros Securities Bloomberg News April 29, 1998, 5:46 a.m. PT Princeton, New Jersey, April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. (PFE US) was reiterated ''buy'' by analyst Tim O'Reilly at Aros Securities Inc. The 12-month target price is $130.00 per share. -- Andrew Bekoff in the Princeton, New Jersey newsroom, (609)279-3652

To: Perry who wrote (1788)	4/29/1998 5:23:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9523

Bloomberg - Pfizer Will Sell More Viagra Even as HMOs Limit Payments Bloomberg News April 29, 1998, 12:15 p.m. PT New York, April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc.'s impotence pill sales could reach $1 billion in its first full year on the market even if health plans put strict conditions on paying for Viagra and men have to buy the drug themselves, analysts said. The New York Times reported that managed care companies such as Wellpoint Health Networks and Cigna Healthcare are limiting payments for the medicine, which reached unprecedented levels of prescriptions for a new drug when it was introduced this month. The ease of taking a pill may draw many men to Viagra who would not have been interested in earlier and less convenient impotence treatments. It also will attract men who buy the drug for lifestyle reasons, analysts said. ''They are willing to pay right now and they will be willing to pay in the future,'' said Hemant Shah, an analyst who covers the pharmaceuticals industry. Already, about half of the men who have bought Viagra paid in cash, said Shah. Eventually, men will pay out of pocket for about 70 percent of Viagra prescriptions, he said. Viagra had gotten as many as 46,000 prescriptions a day in the week ended April 24, according to NDC Health Information Services, which tracks prescription data. The surprising strength of demand for the drug led David Saks, an analyst with Gruntal & Co., to raise his estimates of sales in the first 12 months to $1 billion from an earlier estimate of $400 million. Men will pay for their own Viagra prescriptions just as people pay for cosmetic surgery and similar medical expenses not covered by health plans, he said. ''It's a want thing,'' Saks said. ''They'd like to be reimbursed, but will still buy the drug if they're not.'' Doctors prescribe about 11 pills at a time, said Michael Krensavage, an analyst with Brown Brothers Harriman. While initial demand has been strong, there's no way to gauge what the final level will be. ''It's all pure speculation,'' Krensavage said. ''Nobody knows what the reuse rate will be.'' Pfizer sells Viagra to wholesalers for about $7 a pill. Retailers often mark up drugs 25 percent. Viagra prescriptions are selling for $10 or more, the New York Times reported. Pfizer got U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell Viagra March 27. Pfizer fell 3/16 to 113 3/16 in late trading. --Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016/dd