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

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1027)	1/31/1999 7:37:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

Merck Says Vioxx, Others to Offset Patent Expirations Bloomberg News January 31, 1999, 12:39 p.m. ET Merck Says Vioxx, Others to Offset Patent Expirations Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co. said its experimental Vioxx painkiller out later this year is the last in a series of products it's counting on to drive earnings growth as patents for its best-selling drugs expire in 2000 and 2001. Vioxx, one in a new class of painkillers thought to irritate the stomach less than aspirin and ibuprofen, will join osteoporosis treatment Fosamax and asthma pill Singulair to boost Merck's earnings ahead, Chairman and Chief Executive Raymond Gilmartin said in an interview. The world's biggest drugmaker, unlike others in the industry, isn't looking to join forces with a rival or license other companies' drugs because Vioxx and the five drugs it introduced last year are enough to offset the generic competition it will soon face on drugs with annual sales of $4.9 billion, Gilmartin said. ''We're confident of being able to achieve our growth objectives without a merger,'' he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. ''Vioxx will complete the package of existing drugs we felt we needed in order to offset the patent expirations.'' Analysts forecast Vioxx annual sales will top $1 billion, even as it competes with Monsanto Co.'s Celebrex -- the only member of the so-called Cox-2 class of drugs to have won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. Label is Key Gilmartin said Merck plans to introduce Vioxx by mid-year in the U.S. if the FDA approves the drug on schedule. Clearance is expected by May after regulators said this month they would give Vioxx an accelerated review. Gilmartin said he hadn't yet heard whether a panel of doctors would review the drug before the FDA reaches its decision. Analysts widely expect the FDA to approve the drug, yet they say how much Merck can claim about the drug on the label is key to whether Vioxx will have an edge over Monsanto's rival product. ''What you achieve with the label determines what you're able to market,'' Gilmartin said. ''Overall, we're very pleased with the quality of the clinical data we're been able to submit.'' Aside from Vioxx, Fosamax and Singulair, Merck is counting on the heart drug Aggrastat and Maxalt, a migraine treatment, to boost earnings growth. In 2000, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck will loose its patent for Vasotec, a drug to fight high blood pressure, and Pepcid, an ulcer treatment. A similar fate awaits the company's cholesterol-fighting drug Mevacor and the high blood pressure treatment Prinivil in 2001. Research, Marketing Spending ''We can offset the loss of those drugs and still show growth rates that are competitive with the other leading pharmaceutical companies,'' Gilmartin said. He also said he's ''comfortable'' with analysts' forecasts that Merck will post earnings of $4.85 to $4.95 a share in 1999, up from $4.41 a share last year. Earlier this month, Gilmartin suggested analysts trim their earnings. Before the last analyst meeting, analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. forecast earnings of $4.97 a share. ''The new estimate reflects the fact that we're investing in the launch of our existing drugs in new countries, we have a major launch coming up with Vioxx, and we're increasing research spending 14 percent to more than $2 billion this year,'' Gilmartin said. Gilmartin also said sales growth in Europe was about 15 percent last year -- a pace Merck is looking to maintain in the region in years ahead. That's more than twice as much as analysts forecast for the industry and especially for Europe, where sales growth is slower than in the U.S. --Marthe Fourcade at the World Economic Forum (336) 08904670 with