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Biotech / Medical : Eli Lilly -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mel Spivak who wrote (227)	5/19/1998 2:36:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 642

More competition for ReoPro? Cor Shares Rise on Full FDA Approval for Integrilin (Update1) Bloomberg News May 19, 1998, 8:14 a.m. PT Cor Shares Rise on Full FDA Approval for Integrilin South San Francisco, May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Cor Therapeutics Inc. shares rose as much as 16 percent after the company won full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its Integrilin heart drug. Shares of South San Francisco-based Cor rose as much as 2 3/4 to 19 5/8 before falling back to 17 3/4 in recent trading. The gains helped the stock recover some of what it lost after Merck & Co. won FDA approval for a similar drug late Thursday. The approval for Integrilin, expected after the company received preliminary approval in April, makes the drug the third entry in a class of heart drugs known as ''super aspirins'' or anti-platelets, after Merck and Centocor Inc., which previously had sole control of the class. ''Now it's going to be a real battle for market share,'' said Charles Engelberg, an analyst with Americal Securities. The FDA's approval gives Cor clearance to sell the drug for use in heart patients suffering crushing chest pains known as unstable angina, patients who have a heart condition called non-Q- wave myocardial infarction and patients undergoing an artery- opening procedure called angioplasty. The drug is cleared for a wider range of uses than either of the two drugs approved earlier. Cor is likely to play that to its advantage as it battles against Merck and Centocor in a market that is expected to top $1 billion a year. Integrilin will be marketed by Madison, New Jersey-based Schering-Plough. Centocor markets ReoPro with Eli Lilly & Co. Centocor's ReoPro, with 1998 sales estimated at $350 million, was the first such drug to be cleared by the FDA. Companies including Monsanto Co.'s Searle unit also are racing to develop drugs to compete with ReoPro. So far, Centocor has staved off competition and garnered increasing sales by proving the value of ReoPro, which sells for about $1,400 a dose. Angina, generally caused by a lack of oxygen flow to the heart, causes crushing chest pains and feelings of suffocation and can be a sign of serious cardiovascular disease. Centocor shares fell 1 1/8 in recent trading, while Merck shares rose 1 to 120 5/8. --Kristin Jensen in Washington (202) 624-1843 and Jim Finkle and