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

To: Epicenter who wrote (7203)	3/11/1999 5:33:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

Merck Could Begin Mexican Sales of Painkiller Vioxx by April Bloomberg News March 11, 1999, 3:47 p.m. ET Merck Could Begin Mexican Sales of Painkiller Vioxx by April Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co., the world's biggest drugmaker, said it will introduce its painkiller Vioxx in Mexico by late March or early April after winning approval for it last month. Merck still is seeking U.S. approval for Vioxx, which will compete with Monsanto Co.'s similar new blockbuster pill Celebrex. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel will review Merck's request at an April 20 meeting. The Mexican Health Ministry approved Vioxx on Feb. 1, Merck said Celebrex and Vioxx are part of a new group of painkillers that may work without irritating the stomach as do older medicines. Analysts have estimated that annual sales of these drugs will top $1 billion each within a few years as people turn to painkillers with fewer side effects. Celebrex already rivals Pfizer Inc.'s anti-impotence pill Viagra for the most successful U.S. drug introduction. In the week ended Friday, about 270,000 Celebrex prescriptions were filled. Viagra had about the same amount in its eighth week on the market, according to NDC Health Information Services, a unit of Atlanta-based NDC Corp. Celebrex was introduced in the U.S. in mid-January. Pfizer began U.S. sales of Viagra in April 1998. Celebrex and Vioxx are so-called Cox-2 drugs, which appear to be gentler on the stomach because they target an enzyme linked to pain and inflammation without blocking a related enzyme that protects the stomach from its own acid. Older drugs can hit both enzymes and, as a result, long-term use of some painkillers can lead to ulcers or stomach bleeding. Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, fell 7/16 to 82 3/8 in late trading. --Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016 with news.com