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

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (963)	1/23/1999 5:11:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

Now, Merck is looking to one drug alone, its experimental painkiller Vioxx, analysts said. Vioxx, which is waiting for U.S. approval, is part of a new class of drug that appear to treat pain and inflammation without irritating the stomach as does aspirin and other painkillers. Rival Monsanto Co. last month won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of a similar drug, Celebrex. It intends to introduce the drug in late February, although doctors already are writing prescriptions for it. Relying on Vioxx ''Without MK-869, Merck will have to rely even more on Vioxx and it's not good,'' to depend so much on one product, Krensavage said. Not only does Monsanto have a head start on Merck, Monsanto has chosen a marketing partner, Pfizer Inc., that already has beaten Merck in the marketing battle for a key drug. Pfizer, which will work with Monsanto to sell Celebrex, also helps Warner-Lambert Co. sell its cholesterol-reducing drug Lipitor. Pfizer's assistance helped make Lipitor's 1997 introduction the best ever in the U.S. drug industry, a record broken only by the 1998 introduction of Pfizer's impotence pill Viagra. From a Bloomberg article on Merck: news.com