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

To: Paul B. who wrote (1165)	3/24/1999 8:20:00 PM
From: Nick	Respond to of 1580

Novartis,Merck, Glaxo top 98 drug sales league-IMS LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Novartis AG, Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK - news) of the U.S. and Britain's Glaxo Wellcome Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: GLXO.L) topped the global pharmaceutical sales league in 1998, according to data published by IMS Health on Wednesday. The three companies each had 4.2 percent of the global market, which was worth $251.3 billion last year, IMS Health said. The proposed combinations of Astra and Zeneca and of the life science businesses of Hoechst and Rhone Poulenc, which have yet to be completed, would both have put all three in the top spot based on last year's IMS figures for market share. ''We believe the top three pharmaceutical companies are in a three-way tie for first place. Novartis, Merck and Glaxo Wellcome are separated by just millions of dollars and it is in our view a race that is too close to call,'' IMS Health Chief Executive Officer Victoria Fash said. Fourth-ranked Pfizer Inc, whose sales rose 21 percent last year, and 15th ranked Warner-Lambert, up 37 percent, enjoyed the strongest growth. ''Pfizer...is well-placed to jump ahead of its fourth position based on its 1998 growth rate, aided by the continued success of its cardiovascular drug Norvasc and, of course, the early effects of the global Viagra launch,'' IMS said. The world's top 20 drug companies accounted for 57.3 percent of all prescription drug sales last year, IMS said, while the percentage share of the top ten increased slightly to 36.1 percent from 35.4 percent. ''These insights show an industry that is picking up speed. This is the Golden Age of the pharmaceutical industry,'' Fash added. Top 20 companies ranked by global pharmaceutical sales: Rank 1998 Pct Pct Sales global growth (Bln $) sales yr-on-yr 1 Novartis 10.6 4.2 5 1 Merck (NYSE:MRK - news) 10.6 4.2 8 1 Glaxo Wellcome (quote from Yahoo) 10.5 4.2 1 4 Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - news) 9.9 3.9 21 5 Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - news) 9.8 3.9 11 6 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - news) 9.0 3.6 8 7 American Home Products(NYSE:AHP - news) 7.8 3.1 1 8 Roche Holding 7.6 3.0 6 9 Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY - news) 7.4 2.9 17 10 SmithKline Beecham 7.3 2.9 6 Leading 10 Companies 90.7 36.1 8 11 Astra 6.9 2.8 16 12 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - news) 6.4 2.5 8 13 Hoechst MR (quote from Yahoo! UK) 6.2 2.5 2 14 Schering Plough (NYSE:SGP - news) 6.2 2.5 14 15 Warner-Lambert (NYSE:WLA - news) 6.0 2.4 37 16 Bayer (quote from Yahoo! U) 5.2 2.1 1 17 Rhone Poulenc Rorer 4.6 1.8 7 18 Pharmacia & Upjohn (NYSE:PNU - news) 4.5 1.8 8 19 Zeneca 3.7 1.5 16 20 Boehringer Ingelheim 3.6 1.4 6 Leading 20 companies 143.9 57.3 9 Audited world $251.3 100.0 7