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To: Anthony Wong who wrote (826)	9/21/1998 1:27:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Merck, Zeneca Hope New Asthma Drugs Will Grab Market Share Bloomberg News September 21, 1998, 12:48 p.m. ET Merck, Zeneca Hope New Asthma Drugs Will Grab Market Share Geneva, Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Drugmakers Merck & Co. and Zeneca Group Plc hope reports on recent research will help their new asthma treatments garner a greater share of one of the fastest-growing markets in health care. Merck, the world's biggest drugmaker, and Zeneca, the third- biggest drug company in the U.K., both published data comparing their new asthma drugs to Glaxo Wellcome Plc's Becotide, an anti- inflammatory steroid, hoping to persuade more doctors to prescribe the drugs for mild and moderate asthma. Becotide, which generated 331 million pounds in sales last year, is one of six asthma drugs made by Glaxo, the world's biggest asthma drugmaker. Growth in demand for asthma treatments from patients in industrialized countries is expected to lift sales of asthma drugs in the U.S., for example, to as much as $2.38 billion in 2005 from $1.18 billion in 1996. Many patients now rely on steroids such as Becotide for relief from symptoms such as wheezing and shortness of breath. ''Steroids are very active, but they have many side affects,'' said Philippe Leuenberger, chairman of the European Respiratory Society conference, held in Geneva this week. ''If these new drugs can help reduce the amount of steroids needed, that would be interesting,'' said Leuenberger, referring to Zeneca's Accolate and Merck's Singulair, both of which belong to a new class of drugs called leukotriene receptor antagonists. The new drugs block leukotrienes, which cause inflammation in airways. They have few side affects, while steroids cause the skin to thin and bruise easily and are suspected of stunting children's growth. Merck said at the Geneva conference that in a recent 12-week study comparing its Singulair with Glaxo's Becotide, its drug worked faster than Glaxo's, although more patients responded to the Glaxo steroid. A separate study showed the safety of the drug, Merck said. Zeneca said that 70 percent of adolescents in a recent study prefer Zeneca's Accolate, which like Singulair is taken orally once a day, to Glaxo's Becotide, which is inhaled. Researchers at the Geneva conference said more comparative studies and more clinical trials were needed to show whether these new substances could ever replace steroids completely or complement them as an asthma therapy. Zeneca shares today rose 29 pence, or 1.3 percent, to 2,249p in a falling London market, while Merck rose as much as 1 3/16, or 0.9 percent, to 135 5/8. --Theresa Waldrop in Geneva, through the Zurich newsroom (41-1)