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Biotech / Medical : Zonagen (zona) - good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bruce Rosen who wrote (6209)	2/18/1999 12:01:00 PM
From: Hank	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7041

Yes, but the "experts" on this thread claimed that Vasoscam was selling well in Mexico and that the 4Q numbers would prove so. Just go back and read their comments following the 3Q report. Schering has to proceed as though Vasoscam will get approved. It wouldn't be good business to not be ready for a full scale marketing attack in the event that approval does happen. As for the theory that Schering is gathering additional data in Mexico, so what if they are? It would have no relevance to getting approval in this country because the application has already been filed. Also, it is not standard practice for a drug company to submit data from studies in a third world company when seeking approval from the FDA. It doesn't make any sense. If they wanted additional clinical data, then why not conduct the studies here where the experimental conditions can be better controlled? I doubt that there's an advantage to conducting these types of studies in a country where the medical facilities are significantly inferior to our own (unless you're looking to do it in such a way as to skew the results in your favor).

To: Bruce Rosen who wrote (6209)	2/23/1999 8:15:00 AM
From: Linda Kaplan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7041

Welcome back! You certainly were gone for a long time and am glad to see you've returned. I do disagree with your comments, though. At the time that the Mexico approval was obtained, the cheerleaders in this thread insisted that it would be a great beginning and that it would show how well the drug would sell. They said it was a great strategy. You must admit that whatever the strategy was, it failed. The drug hasn't sold well at all. The pipeline was stuffed in the first quarter of sales and since then no sales in the second quarter and returns in the third quarter. Sales have been very poor. If the drug had performed in the superior way you're suggesting, given that it's cheaper than Viagra, word of mouth would have increased the Vasomax sales. No sales. This suggests that the drug did not perform in any way better than Viagra. If it didn't in Mexico, it won't anywhere. Sure, advertising can help. With initial sales. But if the drug doesn't work, it won't help for long. I think you're really stretching it to suggest that the purpose of Mexico approval was to gather data. There are far easier ways for SGP to gather data. There is no doubt that SGP has a big investment in Vasomax and it's my opinion they are trying to make something of their investment the best way they can: through the hype that they've been engaging in, such as what Cacaito just referred to where the company was predicting huge sales. Well, there's no evidence for any sales, not to mention huge sales. I think someone at SGP made a big mistake in Vasomax and that they are trying to make the best they can of it, but someday I bet that person is going to be fired. Linda