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 : VVUS: VIVUS INC. (NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Y2k_fan who wrote (9393)	6/8/1998 8:47:00 PM
From: Philippe J. Dor	Respond to of 23519

Pfizer's Viagra Sales Slip in Late May on Holiday, FDA Report Bloomberg News June 8, 1998, 3:03 p.m. PT Pfizer's Viagra Sales Slip in Late May on Holiday, FDA Report New York, June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra had 25 percent fewer prescriptions sold in the week ended May 29 after U.S. regulators reported the deaths of several Viagra users and the Memorial Day holiday kept many doctors out of their offices. It was the third weekly drop in total sales of the first pill to treat impotence. Total Viagra prescriptions fell to 210,857 in the week ended May 29 from 282,597 a week earlier, IMS Health, an industry consulting group. In the week ended May 15 Viagra had 297,666 prescriptions sold. Viagra became one of the best-selling U.S. drugs within weeks of its April introduction. In late May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said six users of Viagra had died. The number was later revised to four users and the deaths have been attributed to misuse of the drug or heart attacks and strokes. ''Viagra's a good product, but these early rates of growth weren't sustainable,'' said Martin Bukoll, an analyst with Northern Trust, which holds about 8.7 million Pfizer shares, according to regulatory filings. Pfizer, a New York-based drugmaker with laboratories in Connecticut, rose 1/16 to 108 7/16. Viagra sales were expected to decline in time after the drug became one of the biggest U.S. drugs within weeks of its introduction, analysts said. Stock Gains Enthusiasm about early Viagra sales pushed it to a record high of 121 3/4 on April 21. In the past year, Pfizer almost doubled on prospects for Viagra. The pill has expanded the market for impotence sales, once dominated by less convenient methods. Viagra sales are expected to top $1 billion in its first 12 months on the market. Pfizer could start sales in the European Union later this year. Pfizer also is conducting a test in Europe to see if Viagra works in women as it does in men. If this test proves successful, Pfizer would need to do another larger study before it could ask regulators to approve use of the drug in women, said Mariann Caprino, a Pfizer spokeswoman. The FDA last week said a review of medical records shows only four of the six men who reportedly died after using Viagra had definitely taken the drug. Two other earlier reports proved to be unreliable or circumstantial. Pfizer has said three people died because they took Viagra with common heart medicine, such as nitroglycerin. Viagra's warning label already warned users not to take the drug if they are taking this class of drugs, called nitrates, used to treat severe chest pain known as angina. Three other deaths seemed to stem from heart attacks and stroke. Sexual intercourse sometimes causes these events in older men. IMS Health is a unit of Westport, Connecticut-based Cognizant Corp. --Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016/esk