Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: kas1 who wrote (458)	1/11/1999 7:01:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 642

Eli Lilly Launches Quick-Acting Insulin Product in Europe Bloomberg News January 10, 1999, 7:01 p.m. ET London, Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Eli Lilly & Co. said it introduced a new, fast-acting version of its Humalog injected- insulin product in the U.K., Germany and Ireland, opening new markets for its third-biggest-selling group of products. Indianapolis-based Lilly, maker of the world's best-selling antidepressant Prozac, said it launched Humalog Mix25, a treatment for type-2 diabetes, in the three European countries. Humalog Mix25 is a quick-acting version of Humalog, one of three main Lilly insulin products sold in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere. The Lilly launch comes at a time of heightened competition in the $2.5 billion world market for treating type-2 diabetes, a chronic condition characterized by the body's inability to metabolize sugars correctly. Diabetes affects an estimated 135 million people worldwide, with the treatment market dominated by Lilly, Denmark's Novo Nordisk AS and Merck KGaA of Germany. New competitors, including Warner-Lambert Co. and others, are developing easier-to-use versions of diabetes drugs. ''Humalog's been quite successful in the U.S.,'' but current treatments are a poor match for what the pancreas does, said Peter Laing, analyst with SG Securities Ltd., referring to the organ that secretes natural insulin, which lowers blood sugar in healthy people. That means there is much room for improved treatments, Laing said. Lilly said in October that year-to-date sales of insulin products increased nine percent to $816.4 million, its third biggest-selling product group after the antidepressant Prozac and Zyprexa, a schizophrenia drug. Humalog sales in the third-quarter were $32 million, an 82 percent increase, Lilly said. To treat type-2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, patients typically must inject insulin up to an hour before a meal to ensure their blood sugar level doesn't rise to dangerous levels when food digests. Humalog Mix25, however, can be injected immediately before or after a meal, making it easier to use, said Lilly. Laing said Humalog Mix25 is the first of a new group of faster-acting insulin products, although Hoechst AG and Novo Nordisk are close behind with similar products, all genetically engineered versions of naturally occurring insulin. Those products may face competition from Warner-Lambert Co.'s troglitazone and similar drugs in the ''glitazone'' class developed by SmithKline Beecham Plc and others, as well as Glucophage, co-marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Merck KGaA. All those are newer drugs that can be taken in tablet form rather that injected. --Dane Hamilton in the London newsroom (44-171) 330-7727/cor