| Celebrex
- or Vioxx?? The Battle continues
Text of e-mail sent by Skip Weber: <SKIPPER@email.msn.com>:
I understand that the gap between celebrex and vioxx is widening
again. I have been told that scripts are now 56% to 44% and total
market share over the last month is 64% to 36%. This is primarily
due to two recent events:
1) The now combined sales forces of Searle, Pfizer,
and Pharmacia & Upjohn have begun to push back against to the
huge marketing campaign Merck has waged over the last 6 months.
2) Merck recently released a study that revealed a
5% increase in heart attacks for people taking vioxx. Merck has
recommended that people taking vioxx also take at least two aspirin
per day. Bad news for vioxx since naiads are what vioxx replaced.
In another unrelated event, an appeals court has just stated that
Merck should not have been issued a patent for vioxx since it infringed
on the patent filed by Searle 7 months earlier. This will continue
to be fought in the courts.
In 2000, celebrex has an advantage and that appears
to be fairly steady. As far as total sales in 1999 and 2000, Celebrex
just surpassed 2 billion. Vioxx has yet to hit one billion but will
certainly hit a billion in the next month. While vioxx appears to
be catching celebrex, and they may some day because they have a
terrific sales force, the total dollar value of market share is
widening. There is also a new arthritis drug hitting the market
that may take as much a 5% of the market, according to my marketing
friends.
There is also a patent infringement suit against Pharmacia
that could hit Pharmacia Merck hard if it is upheld. I have been
told that there is two reasons why Pharmacia was sued but not Merck.
If Rochester U. beats Pharmacia, they have beaten Merck. Battling
Pharmacia will be a less expensive battle than going against Merck's
big legal guns. Also, it has been said the Merck is one of the major
benefactors of Rochester U."
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