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

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7061)	2/22/1999 12:34:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Japanese women say Viagra OK is sexist Published Sunday, February 21, 1999, in the Miami Herald By MICHAEL ZIELENZIGER Herald Foreign Staff TOKYO -- In a nation where men write the rules and women do the dishes, the Health Ministry's speedy decision to approve the male impotence drug Viagra has infuriated women's groups. Why, they protested, did the government approve the new drug in a record six months, when Japan remains one of the last industrialized nations to ban the low-dose oral contraceptive for women? ''Of course it's a double standard,'' complained Yoriko Ashino, deputy executive director of the Family Planning Federation of Japan, which has been crusading to get the safer version of the pill legalized. ''We've been waiting 10 years to get the low-dose pill approved and this Viagra medicine is being approved in just six months.'' ''In my view, the basic reason for the delay for approving the pill is discrimination against women,'' she said in an interview. ''Male bureaucrats and government officials do not want women to have control over their own fertility. It's a sexist system.'' Her criticism was echoed by a sales representative for one of the nine pharmaceutical companies that have doggedly -- but so far unsuccessfully -- attempted to get the low-dose oral contraceptive approved. ''The old men who run the parliament are dying to try this Viagra,'' she complained bitterly. The Health Ministry admitted it had put approval of the impotence treatment on a ''fast track.'' It is the first time, ministry officials acknowledged, that research collected in clinical trials on patients abroad was used to win approval for a drug in Japan. ''We hope other drugs will also be approved more quickly in the future,'' said Toshiki Hirai, director of the agency's pharmaceutical licensing division. Hirai said the agency was impelled to act because a large number of Japanese men were obtaining the drug illegally over the Internet. Officials estimate that more than six million Japanese men may suffer from sexual dysfunction that Viagra might help treat. In a brief interview following Viagra's approval in December, Hirai refused to discuss why the drug was approved so quickly using data collected on foreign patients while the low-dose pill, used by women in more than 100 nations, is still banned in Japan. He said the country's Central Pharmaceutical Affairs Council, which screens drugs for approval, has yet to decide whether the pill is safe. But in an earlier conversation, Hirai's deputy Yasuhide Furusawa said ''social concerns'' remain a major stumbling block in legalizing the pill. ''There is a significant concern that permitting use of the pill will accelerate the spread of HIV'' by encouraging sexual promiscuity by women, Furusawa said. Might there be a double standard for men and women in Japan, Furusawa was asked. He squirmed in his chair, shuffled his papers and struggled to come up with an answer. After a nearly a minute of silence he said: ''Accidentally. Viagra has been offered at a time when we are looking at foreign data. During discussion of the pill, we did not accept such foreign data.'' herald.com

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7061)	2/22/1999 12:41:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Pfizer replies to Ann Landers:- ANN LANDERS Use caution before you use remedies for impotence Published Sunday, February 21, 1999, in the San Jose Mercury News BY ANN LANDERS DEAR ANN: I'm writing about your response to the 59-year-old man seeking information on impotence. We respectfully believe you got it wrong. Your reply refers to herbal products as providing ''very satisfactory'' results to people who wish to enhance their sexual performance. Herbal products do not undergo rigorous scientific testing. According to a recent consumer alert by the Federal Trade Commission, no herbal or all-natural substance has been shown to be an effective treatment for impotence. Your column also refers to a Food and Drug Administration announcement that 69 people have died after taking Viagra. Yes, there have been deaths reported among the 4 million patients who have been prescribed Viagra, but no cause-and-effect relationship has been established. Your readers should understand that there is a cardiovascular risk associated with sexual activity, and only a physician can determine when -- or even whether -- it is appropriate for a patient to resume sexual relations after a heart attack. As we have always said, Viagra is not for everyone. Joseph M. Feczko, M.D., senior vice president, medical and regulatory operations, Pfizer Inc. New York DEAR MR. FECZKO: Your honest appraisal is refreshing, especially since Viagra is one of your biggest sellers. Here's one more: DEAR ANN: Is it true that Bob Dole has signed on to be the poster boy for Viagra? Just Asking DEAR JUST: I don't know. Ask Elizabeth. Here is the last word from Consumer Alert in Washington, D.C.: If the product being pitched to cure impotence is ''herbal'' or ''all-natural,'' dismiss it. To date, no herbal or all-natural substance has been proven effective in treating impotence. For a free brochure about impotence, write to the Sexual Function Health Council, American Foundation for Urologic Disease Inc., 1128 N. Charles St., Baltimore, Md. 21201, or call (800) 433-4215 (www.impotence.org). www7.mercurycenter.com

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7061)	2/22/1999 12:51:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Viagra wars are heating up Orlando Business Journal February 22, 1999 Susan Lundine Staff Writer TALLAHASSEE -- Business and insurance lobbyists have dealt a setback to state legislation that would have forced insurers to address gender equity in an especially delicate area: the bedroom. At issue is legislation designed to force companies now paying for treatment of sexual dysfunction -- such as covering the cost of the male impotence drug Viagra -- to also pay for birth control. "It was no big deal to have insurance coverage for Viagra a couple of months after it was on the market, while birth control is not covered and has been on the market more than 30 years," says Rep. Steven Effman (D-Plantation). "It is only right and equitable for insurance to cover all types of medication." However, the birth control measure, filed by state Rep. Elaine Bloom (D-North Miami Beach), was killed by the House Governmental Operations Committee after heavy lobbying by business and insurance interests. Those groups countered that the cost of covering birth control would have increased insurers' and employers' health care costs by at least 5 percent. And, they argue, it is estimated that for every 1 percent increase in health insurance premiums, 400,000 people lose health coverage. The issue is far from over, though: Effman and Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Davie) have co-sponsored a similar bill, which now is headed for hearings in four House committees: Health Care Services, Insurance, Governmental Operations and General Government Appropriations. amcity.com

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7061)	2/22/1999 1:18:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Pfizer To Take Specific Marketing Measures In Japan - Exec By Yumiko Ono - TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Pfizer Inc. (PFE), which last month recived government approval to sell its Viagra sexual-dysfunction drug in Japan, is taking a number of marketing measures specifically for the Japanese market, a company executive told Dow Jones Newswires. Pfizer's moves are being watched closely by the Japanese pharmaceutical industry because Viagra is seen as having a potentially huge impact on the huge Japanese drug market - yet faces some delicate marketing issues. It has already caused a national frenzy - some of it negative. Before the drug was approved, eager middle-aged men imported the drug through middlemen and self-medicated. One man is reported to have died here last year after taking Viagra, an incident that received broad play in the media before the drug was approved. Takashi Yohkaichiya, vice president and medical director of Pfizer's Japanese unit, said in an interview that the company is taking an extra step to warn Japanese patients about Viagra's potential side effects. Instead of putting a quantity of Viagra pills in glass bottles as in the U.S., he said, the company decided to enclose two pills at a time in big blister packs. Across the back of each package is a warning in huge letters forbidding patients to combine the pill with nitrate heart medications. "We made it so that we could write (the warning) on the back of each pill," he said. Yohkaichiya added that Pfizer has also created brochures with warnings and instructions aimed at patients taking Viagra. Pfizer plans to distribute the brochures to pharmacists, who will be asked to give patients the brochure, along with Viagra. Such brochures are usually frowned upon by the government, which considers them as potential advertisements. But Yohkaichiya said that after a discussion, both parties agreed that this drug required additional information for patients. The Japanese government acted in an unusually speedy manner to approve the drug earlier this month, giving the green light in just six months, or about a third the time it has taken to approve most drugs. But one thing that is still unclear is when Viagra will actually go on sale. A Pfizer spokesman said Monday that the company is still waiting to hear from the Health Ministry on whether the drug will be covered by insurance. (END) DOW JONES NEWS 02-22-99 04:15 AM

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7061)	2/22/1999 2:30:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Weekly Prescription Trends (22 February 1999) Viagra, new weekly prescription numbers were up 2.4% from last week to 69, 740. Refills as a % of total prescription numbers finished off lower at 59.4% compared to 60.2% last week. Celebrex new prescriptions increased 32.8% to 121,467 for the week of February 12th. This product will be officially launched today. WLA's Lipitor gained 40 basis points to 43.6% market share of new prescriptions. MRK's Zocor remained flat at 25.8% this week. Bristol's Pravachol lost 30 basis points to 16.5%. Depression drugs: Forest Lab's Celexa new prescription market share increased from 5.3% to 5.5%. Eli Lilly's Prozac has a new prescription market share of 27.5%. Pfizer's Zoloft has a new prescription market share of 24.5%. Smithkline Beacham's Paxil has a new prescription market share of 23.2%. askmerrill.com