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

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (752)	5/18/1999 7:13:00 PM
From: Captain Jack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 942

Tony--- All the news I saw was very good. Did I miss something that caued the drop or is just still performing like a penny stock??

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (752)	5/18/1999 7:13:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 942

Warner-Lambert sees $3.3 bln in '99 Lipitor sales By Ransdell Pierson NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - Warner-Lambert Co.<WLA.N> said on Tuesday it expects its flagship anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor to have booming sales in 1999 and beyond, but cautioned that its controversial diabetes drug Rezulin would likely have flat sales this year amid safety concerns. Warner-Lambert gave analysts its own estimates of potential sales for its leading drugs, most notably saying it agrees with Wall Street expectations that its flagship anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor would garner 1999 sales of $3.3 billion, growing to more than $4 billion in the year 2000. Lipitor had sales of $2.2 billion in 1998. The company's newly installed chief executive officer, Lodewijk de Vink, reaffirmed the company's previously stated goal of achieving 30 percent growth in diluted per share earnings in 1999 of $1.92. Earnings growth was 40 percent last year thanks mostly to the stellar performance of Lipitor. Wall Street has been riveted in the past year with safety concerns over Warner-Lambert's second best-selling drug, Rezulin, for Type II diabetes. Wall Street had expected Rezulin to become at least a $1 billion blockbuster when it was launched by Warner-Lambert in early 1997, about the same time that Lipitor was introduced to U.S. markets. But sales of Rezulin began faltering last year after dozens of deaths were linked to the drug, the first in a promising new class of oral diabetic medicines known as glitazones. Rezulin works by improving the ability of the body's hormone, insulin, to remove glucose from the bloodstream. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently in the process of deciding whether to allow the drug to be given by itself, or only in combination with other diabetes drugs such as insulin or sulfonylureas. Warner-Lambert told analysts at its annual research and development meeting here it expected Rezulin sales in 1999 to be about equal to 1998 sales of $748 million. But analysts have said Rezulin sales in 2000 and beyond could actually fall amid expected new competition from Avandia and Actos, two new glitazones being developed respectively by Britain's SmithKline Beecham Plc. <SB.L><SBH.N> and Japan's Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. <4502.T>. The company also said it was testing its epilepsy drug Neurontin in combination with conventional painkilling drugs after discovering that together they had a "strong analgesic effect." Warner-Lambert said it was conducting a Phase II trail of Neurontin in combination with naproxen, a member of the family of conventional painkilling medicines known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Company officials said that two separate studies using both drugs together were targeting dental pain and osteoarthritis "flare." Neurontin is one of Warner-Lambert's best selling drugs, but is facing the loss of U.S. patent protection next year. Officials said however, that if the combination trials with NSAIDs succeed, Neurontin could find new markets. Donald Wild, the head of New Jersey-based Warner-Lambert's global pharmaceuticals division, projected that Neurontin would have sales of about $800 million in the year 2000. Last year Neurontin, an anticonvulsant, had sales of $514 million. Warner-Lambert also said that it had signed a collaboration deal with Germany's Schering AG to conduct research in drugs focused on preventing blood clots. It said the research involves drugs to inhibit blood-clotting factor "Xa." The experimental drugs were "nearing Phase I" trials. The company said the drugs would target deep-vein thrombosis and also acute coronary syndromes. Additionally, the company said it expected sales of its hypertension drug Accuser in 1999 to reach about $500 million, compared with $454 million in 1998. The drug maker co-markets a hot new anti-depressant known as Celexa with Forest Laboratories<FRX.A>. Celexa, launched in the U.S. in 1998, has wrested away sales of Eli Lily & Co's<LYNN> best-selling drug Prozac, also a member of the class of drugs known as SSRI's. Warner-Lambert expects Celexa to garner annual sales of $1 billion in future years, and sees 1999 sales reaching $300 million. Warner-Lambert's stock fell $1 to $65.94 on the New York Stock Exchange. moneynet.com@NEWS-P1&Index=0&HeadlineURL=../News/NewsHeadlines.asp&DISABLE_FORM=&NAVSVC=News\Company