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

To: Yaacov who wrote (927)	7/13/1998 7:50:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1580

Merck jumps on Zocor news, Schering-Plough sizzles Monday July 13, 3:42 pm Eastern Time NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - Shares of Merck & Co. (MRK - news) rose Monday after the company said it had received marketing approval for an 80-mg version of its flagship medication, the anti-cholesterol drug Zocor. Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP - news) and Pfizer Inc. (PFE - news) also moved higher in a continuation of gains following their release last week of better-than-expected second quarter earnings. Merck was up 1-7/8 to 134-3/8 in afternoon trade. Schering-Plough jumped 2-3/4 to 101 while Pfizer climbed 1-3/8 to 119-3/8. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the 80-mg version of Zocor (simvastatin), a member of the ''statin'' class of newer cholesterol drugs that was Merck's biggest money-maker in 1997 with worldwide sales of $3.6 billion. Merck said its new tablet could reduce LDL, or low density lipoprotein -- the so-called bad cholesterol that deposits fat on artery walls -- by a mean of 47 percent. ABN-AMBRO drug analyst James Keeney said the 80-mg Zocor is almost as potent as Warner-Lambert Co.'s (WLA - news) statin, Lipitor (atorvastatin), which has chipped away at Zocor's market share in the past year, in part because of its ability to reduce LDL cholesterol by 50 percent or more. Zocor had a 33 percent market share among statins before Lipitor's launch in early 1997. Zocor's market share, based on new U.S. prescriptions, has slipped to 27 percent in recent weeks, while Lipitor reigned supreme with 38.5 percent. ''The 80-mg Zocor has narrowed Lipitor's potency advantage, which will be a good talking point for Merck,'' Keeney said. ''Now Zocor will be able to compete more effectively against Lipitor. It will get back some of the share it has lost,'' said OrbiMed Advisors analyst Arvind Desai. Merck said the catalog wholesale price of Zocor will be $2.93 per pill for the 20-mg starting dose as well as the more potent 40-mg and 80-mg doses. On July 8 Schering-Plough reported diluted per-share second quarter earnings of $0.61, up 22 percent from the 1997 quarter and one cent higher than the First Call consensus estimate. Schering-Plough, the Madison, N.J. based company -- best known for its Claritin line of nonsedating antihistimines -- said it would give more complete details of its second quarter performance on July 21. Pfizer on July 9 said its second quarter diluted per-share earnings were 47 cents, 2 cents higher than the consensus estimate of analysts polled by First Call. Pfizer reported a profit for the quarter of $628 million, a 38 percent increase spurred by strong sales of key drugs, including its impotence pill, Viagra (sildenafil), launched in the United States in early April. Southeast Research Partners analyst Neil Sweig said he was maintaining his long-term hold rating on Pfizer but believed ''some profit-taking'' was now warranted because of the stock's lofty price. He said Pfizer was trading at a price 46 times his projection of 1999 diluted per-share earnings of $2.60, largely on hopes of continuing robust U.S. sales of Viagra and strong international sales as its reach expandds to scores of other countries in the coming year. ''Pfizer is trading at by far the highest price-to-earnings ratio of any major drug stock. It is more fully valued than most other drug stocks,'' Sweig said, adding shares were vulnerable to any disappointments from sales of Viagra. Sweig said Schering-Plough, trading at 36 times his estimate of 1999 diluted per-share earnings of $2.75, remained a ''buy.'' ''Schering-Plough routinely delivers earnings growth in the 17-20 percent range. It had 20 percent growth last year and will have 20 percent growth again this year. And next year I believe it will be 17-18 percent,'' Sweig said.