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

To: Uncle Frank who wrote (4674)	7/30/1998 7:27:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Merck, Monsanto Drugs May Have Wide Range of Health Benefits Bloomberg News July 30, 1998, 6:31 p.m. ET Merck, Monsanto Drugs May Have Wide Range of Health Benefits Maui, Hawaii, July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co.'s and Monsanto Co.'s experimental painkiller drugs may have benefits that extend to conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and cancer, researchers said. The drugs, known as Cox-2 inhibitors, work by interfering with production of an enzyme, cyclooxygenase-2, linked to pain and swelling. Cox-2 also plays a role in other diseases, according to researchers at an industry-funded workshop. ''Cox-2 technology may have wide applications across a broad spectrum of medical conditions,'' said Peter Lipsky, director of the arthritis research center at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, which sponsored the workshop. Analysts are already saying the Cox-2 inhibitors have multibillion dollar potential, based mainly on expected sales in treating arthritis. Other uses for the drugs could help sales skyrocket. If it wins U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, Monsanto's version of the Cox-2 inhibitor will be sold by Pfizer Inc., the maker of Viagra and a marketing powerhouse. The two will compete against Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck, the biggest U.S. drugmaker. Unlike existing painkillers, a Cox-2 inhibitor doesn't suppress a related enzyme, Cox-1, that triggers production of the stomach's natural protective lining. That could reduce the side gastrointestinal effects existing painkillers cause. Previous studies have shown the Cox-2 drugs have relatively few side effects and help relieve the pain of arthritis. Now, preliminary studies promise other benefits. One group of researchers out of Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York found that patients with Alzheimer's have high levels of Cox-2 in their brains, suggesting a drug that blocks the enzyme could fight the disease. Other studies found excess Cox-2 in the brain during strokes and in the tumors of cancer patients. Studies in mice and rats also suggest benefits for the drugs, according to researchers who presented their findings today at the Cox-2 meeting in Maui, Hawaii. The meeting was funded in part by grants from Merck, Monsanto's G.D. Searle & Co. unit, Roche Bioscience and the R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute. Analysts expect Searle to file for FDA approval of its Cox-2 inhibitor soon, followed in a few months by Merck. --Kristin Jensen in the Washington newsroom (202) 624-1843