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Biotech / Medical : wla(warner lambert) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Captain Jack who wrote (651)	3/29/1999 7:56:00 AM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 942

lifted on wsj "Rezulin is likely to see flat sales until June" when competing drugs are likely to be approved "and then a decline after that," says Jack Lamberton of HSBC Securities. He added that the Rezulin vote "is all good news" for SmithKline Beecham PLC and Eli Lilly & Co. Those companies are awaiting approval for similar drugs that may have a lower incidence of side-effects. Until reports of Rezulin's side effects became big news last year, Warner-Lambert could seemingly do no wrong. Its earnings have risen explosively because of the rapid growth of its cholesterol-lowering drug, Lipitor, and the popularity of Rezulin, which was approved by the FDA in 1997. In 1998, Lipitor sales rocketed to $2.2 billion, while Rezulin posted sales of $748 million. "Warner Lambert has been a one-and-a-half product company," Mr. Lamberton said. "Now it's a one product company." Industry analysts had expected Rezulin to eventually produce $1 billion to $2 billion in annual sales, and many of them now think the bulk of that market will go to the new drugs from SmithKline and Lilly if studies show they have a significantly lower risk of side effects. Still, the outcome of the hearing is likely to produce some relief to Warner-Lambert shareholders, as the panel could have recommended even more severe restrictions. Currently it is recommended that patients receive monthly liver tests for the first eight months of therapy. The panel could have recommended requiring proof of the blood tests before prescriptions could be filled. Warner-Lambert officials said they were pleased with the panel's vote and that the company was working on ways to improve the drug's safety. The company has already started mailing monthly reminders to patients to get their blood tested for elevated liver enzymes, a sign of liver problems. A company spokesman would not comment on analysts' sales estimates for the drug, but he said that the company "is not a one-product company."