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

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (6344)	11/24/1998 6:36:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

Pfizer's Viagra May Have Been Used by Pilot in Crash, NTSB Says Bloomberg News November 24, 1998, 5:39 p.m. ET Pfizer's Viagra May Have Been Used by Pilot in Crash, NTSB Says Washington, Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc.'s impotence treatment Viagra may have been used by a pilot who died in the crash of an experimental airplane in Maryland, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Matt Furman, a spokesman for the agency, said investigators found a prescription bottle of Viagra with the deceased pilot's name on the label in the wreckage. When NTSB investigators sent the pilot's blood to the Civil Air Medical Institute in Oklahoma for toxicological tests -- a routine step in aviation accident investigations -- they also asked for a test for the impotence drug. Furman emphasized that the test was requested because of the discovery of the bottle. This morning, the Baltimore Sun reported that federal investigators were looking into the possibility that the pilot, a 56-year-old actor named William Gardner Knight, took the drug and suffered side effects impairing his vision. Kathryn Creedy, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman, said the Sun report erroneously suggested that investigators suspected a link between Viagra use and the crash. ''We have made no such link; we are unaware of any such link in any accidents or any incident, including this one,'' Creedy said, adding that the agency has asked the Sun to correct its story. Pfizer spokesman Andy McCormick said the company didn't have any independent information about the pilot's possible use of Viagra. ''We're cautioning against any undue speculation,'' he said. Warning to Pilots Last month, the FAA recommended that airplane pilots not take Viagra within six hours of flight duty because it can impair their ability to distinguish between blue and green in cockpit instrument displays. Shares of New York-based Pfizer fell 2 to 114 1/8. Separately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said today that Viagra will carry new warnings and information to ensure its safe use. Viagra became a household word after Pfizer won approval for the drug in late March. It had the most successful drug introduction in the U.S., with second-quarter sales of $411 million as wholesalers stocked up on the drug. Since then, however, sales have dropped. The drug had third- quarter sales of $141 million, below the $150 million to $200 million some analysts had expected. --Kristin Jensen and Jennifer Thomas in the Washington newsroom

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (6344)	11/24/1998 10:14:00 PM
From: BigKNY3	Respond to of 9523

Merck declares a 2-1 split. This action bodes well for a PFE split announcement within the next 3 months. BigKNY3 Drug Giant Merck Declares 2-For-1 Stock Split 11/24/98 Dow Jones Online News NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Drug maker Merck & Co. Tuesday declared a 2-for-1 stock split, becoming the latest corporate titan to declare confidence in an improving market climate. Whitehouse Station N.J.-based Merck said the split will be payable Feb. 16 to shareholders of record on Jan. 25. Merck's stock has gained over $60 in the past 12 months, and in afternoon trading Tuesday, the shares (MRK) were up $3.563, or 2.2%, at $159.563, after setting a new 52-week high at $160. The company last split its shares, 3-for-1, in 1992. In the past two months, Lockheed Martin Corp., America Online Inc., Time Warner Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and BellSouth Corp. have announced stock splits. Merck has posted strong growth in both its new and established drugs, but analysts have been concerned about the company's future growth prospects. Several of Merck's biggest drugs - including cholesterol drug Mevacor, blood-pressure agents Vasotec and Prinivil, and ulcer drug Pepcid - will lose patent protection in 2000 and 2001, becoming vulnerable to generic competition. The company is already facing competition in the red-hot cholesterol-lowering market, where its Zocor drug is losing market share to Lipitor, a product co-marketed by Pfizer Inc. and Warner-Lambert Co. Industry observers are looking to new drugs launched by Merck to pick up the slack of an expected drop-off of more established products. Merck on Monday said it filed an application with the Food and Drug Administration for permission to market its Vioxx drug for arthritis pain. Merck's stable of drugs also includes Fosamax, used to treat and prevent postmenopausal osteoporosis; Crixivan, a protease inhibitor used to treat HIV infection; and the male-baldness pill Propecia.