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

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7493)	4/22/1999 10:59:00 PM
From: BigKNY3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

Pfizer Board Approves 3-for-1 Stock Split Announced in Jan. Bloomberg News April 22, 1999, 11:37 a.m. PT Pfizer Board Approves 3-for-1 Stock Split Announced in Jan. New York, April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc., the No. 2 U.S. drugmaker, said it approved a three-for-one stock split as new product introductions and marketing pacts boost its sales. The maker of the anti-impotence pill Viagra and the high- blood-pressure drug Norvasc, announced plans for the stock split in January. Pfizer's board approved the split today after the annual shareholder meeting. Pfizer shares rose 3 5/16 to 126 11/16. Under Chief Executive William Steere, Pfizer has focused on finding new drugs and building the sales force needed to market them. In 1998, six drugs marketed by Pfizer could reach or top sales of $1 billion, Steere said. These include Viagra and two drugs Pfizer helps market, Monsanto Co.'s painkiller Celebrex and Warner-Lambert Co.'s Lipitor. Pfizer also is prepared for ''a competitive battle based on safety'' that will start after Merck & Co. introduces a rival drug to Celebrex, Steere said at the analyst meeting. Merck's Vioxx could reach the U.S. market within months. Tuesday, Merck's Vioxx won the backing of a panel of an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA often, though not always, follows the recommendations of advisory panels. Celebrex and Vioxx are part of a new class of drugs designed to be gentler on the stomach than older painkillers such as ibuprofen. That advantage alone could make blockbusters out of the new drugs. Pfizer was ''heartened'' by the outcome of the Merck panel meeting, Steere said. The panel didn't indicate that Merck's drug was superior to Monsanto's Celebrex, he said. Pfizer officials also reviewed the company's drug research and marketing at the meeting. With a $2.8-billion drug research budget, Pfizer also said it may be spending more than any other company in the world on the hunt for new medicines. With 4,900 representatives in the U.S. alone, Pfizer may have the largest sales force in the industry, the company said.