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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (479)	7/8/1998 2:08:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

New Drug Targets Baby-Boom Women JULY 07, 00:31 EDT By DAN SEWELL AP Business Writer MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) - Menopause was more than a change of life for Claudette Loda. It threatened to ruin her life. ''It wasn't gradual - it was like falling off a pier,'' recalled the California woman. ''My body went into a shock.'' Pain, weakness, sudden problems with allergies, and other symptoms sidelined her from activities such as tennis, hiking dancing - ''everything I loved to do.'' She refused to accept that. And like many others in the growing population of baby-boom women who have reached menopause, she demanded medical help. ''Women's health is truly a major growth area for the industry,'' said Jim Hynd, group product director for women's health at Solvay Pharmaceuticals' U.S. headquarters in Marietta. Solvay, part of a Belgium-based company, introduced to the U.S. market in June Prometrium, the first plant-based progesterone pill for menstrual disruption available here. Ms. Loda, who hit menopause eight years ago, relied on friends traveling to Europe to keep her supplied with that kind of medicine, sold there for nearly two decades. The hormone-replacement therapy her doctor initially prescribed produced side-effects of severe headaches and depression that caused her to stop the treatment. When her doctor told her about the European drug and she tried it, she was able to resume her active life. And today, in her 50s, she still exercises every day, from aerobics to tennis. An estimated 25 million American women are now of menopausal age and will ''spend one-third of their lives menopausal,'' Hynd said. Millions of women take estrogen to counter the effects of menopause. But many women refuse to take it because of its potential to increase the risk of breast cancer and other side effects. Finding other ways of helping women through those later years spells profit potential. Some big drugs have been developed and there is lots of research in the area, said Melissa Wilmoth, a Salomon Smith Barney analyst. ''Basically, it's being driven by demographics. The large demographics equate to dollars: serve your market,'' she said. Solvay earlier this year gained Food and Drug Administration approval to market Estratab, a yam-based drug containing half the usual dose of estrogen, to protect against thinning bones. It hopes the progesterone drug, Prometrium, will gain FDA approval later this year for use with estrogen in hormone-replacement therapy that helps protect women against bone and heart disease. Other major pharmaceutical companies also are focused on developing menopause drugs or expanding their uses. Eli Lilly and Co. has said its new non-hormonal drug Evista, approved for treatment of osteoporosis, was being tested with favorable results for reducing the risk of breast cancer and heart disease. And Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories announced nationwide availability of its Crinone progesterone gel for menstrual disruption. The Philadelphia-based division of American Home Products introduced estrogen replacement in 1942 with Premarin, now prescribed to some 9 million women and the most prescribed drug in the United States. In 1993, Wyeth-Ayerst established a Women's Health Research Institute to focus on menopausal disorders. It has more products in its development pipeline for ''unmet medical needs'' of menopausal women, spokesman Doug Petkus said. The most commonly used estrogen drugs are derived from animal and synthetic sources. Estrogen is good at relieving hot flashes but also causes menstrual periods to resume in most women. Studies show that many women - as Ms. Loda did with her first drugs - stop taking them because of side-effects. Dr. Robert W. Rebar, chairman of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the University of Cincinnati, said liability and public relations concerns in the past made some companies reluctant to focus on drugs tied to women's reproductive cycles. But extensive testing has reduced cancer and other risks, and there is now ''recognition that there are clearly many, many women that could benefit,'' Rebar said. Also, the baby-boom generation came of age during the women's movement and is unwilling to be ''as silent as women used to be'' about their needs, he noted. Meanwhile, the hoopla over the male-impotence drug Viagra aroused considerable interest among older women also interested in jump-starting their sex lives. Viagra's manufacturer, Pfizer Inc., is still testing the drug for women - another case of the traditional men-first priorities in health care research.