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

To: Ibexx who wrote (1926)	5/1/1998 4:26:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

Study Says Insurers Are Reimbursing Half Of Viagra Patients May 01, 1998 3:48 PM NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Health insurers are reimbursing half of the men picking up prescriptions of the best-selling impotence-battling drug Viagra, a lower payback rate than for other drugs, according to an industry study reported by the Associated Press Friday. Early estimates by private industry researcher IMS Health found that 51% of the 113,134 people who picked up new prescriptions for the impotence drug in the week ended April 17 were repaid at least in part by health insurers. That's less than the 76% coverage insurers offer for prescription drugs overall, according to Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based IMS. But whether companies broaden their coverage of the $10-a-pill drug or not, Viagra will be a major success, said Myron Holubiak, general manager of the IMS division that monitors the drug. "Is someone going to be going out and making a go or no-go decision on Viagra based on whether their (insurance) plan covers it? No," IMS spokesman Gary Friend said Friday. "It's an area that's very personal and has a profound impact on somebody's sense of well-being." Less than a month after its introduction, the Pfizer Inc. (PFE) drug accounted for nearly 95% of impotence drug sales. Analyst's sales projections range from $300 million this year to as much as $3 billion by 2002. The unprecedented demand for Viagra - a drug that has sextupled the market for impotence drugs - is obvious, said Dr. Stanley G. Korenman, a reproductive endocrinologist at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center. "All these years I've been treating this problem the first question is always, 'Well, do you have a pill?" and the answer has always been no," Korenman said. "Americans love taking pills." Most managed-care health insurers are still considering whether to add Viagra to their preferred drug lists. Such a listing can determine whether a patient can be paid for the drug at all and, if so, how much coverage they receive. In many drug plans, patients must pay at least part of the prescription's cost. The most restrictive plans require patients' doctors to seek a special exception to the list, based on a pressing medical need, before authorizing reimbursement. Many doctors are calling for Viagra to be included under plans that offer impotence coverage. Insurers offer greater coverage to less popular treatments, such as penile injections that result in lasting erections regardless of whether the man is stimulated. Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.