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

To: Perry who wrote (3779)	6/29/1998 4:31:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Pfizer Shares Fall as More Deaths of Viagra Users Reported Bloomberg News June 29, 1998, 3:42 p.m. ET Pfizer Shares Fall as More Deaths of Viagra Users Reported New York, June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. shares fell as much as 3.3 percent as the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. regulators have received about 100 reports of men suffering serious adverse reactions or dying after taking Pfizer's Viagra impotence pill. Pfizer fell 3 1/4 to 108 11/16 in late trading, after hitting 108 1/4 earlier. Pfizer has more than doubled in the past year on prospects for Viagra, the first pill to treat impotence, which was introduced in April to unprecedented demand. The FDA wouldn't confirm the number of reports, which the Journal said it got through a Freedom of Information request. ''The FDA will continue to monitor reports for Viagra, just as we do for any other drugs,'' said FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan. ''While the FDA continues to believe that it is safe and effective for its labeled indication and its intended patient population, we also continue to emphasize that it is imperative that people talk to their physician before taking this or any other drug.'' Separately, a report from Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. analyst Kent Blair cautioned that expectations for Viagra sales may be too optimistic in the long term. Blair couldn't be reached for comment. Shares of Warner-Lambert Co., another drugmaker based in Morris Plains, New Jersey, rose 2 15/16 to 69 7/8 after the report. Pfizer spokeswoman Mariann Caprino wouldn't confirm the number of adverse effects seen so far with Viagra. She said there haven't been any red flags. ''We continue to see experience that mirrors what we saw in our clinical trials,'' Caprino said. ''The drug is safe when used appropriately.'' No cause-and-effect relationship has been established between health problems and the drug, she added. Caprino also said that print ads for Viagra targeted directly at consumers will begin to run today in major magazines including Newsweek, Time and Life. The company hasn't yet decided whether it will advertise the drug on television, she said. Sales of Viagra, a blue, diamond-shaped pill, are expected to top $1 billion in its first 12 months on the market. --Marion Gammill in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4097 with

To: Perry who wrote (3779)	6/29/1998 4:42:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

Perry, my understanding is that the 29 deaths are the total no. of deaths reported and there may even be duplicates in this no.: According to the FDA's most recent adverse-event data for Viagra, there were 101 such reports, some of them duplicates. Pfizer (PFE) said it is required to report every possible case of an adverse event, and some instances are listed in the FDA's database more than once because the same incident may have been reported by different people. "We get our reports from our sales reps, individual physicians and hospitals and we also process news reports," said Andy McCormick, a Pfizer spokesman.