Posted on: Friday, October 8, 2004
Pfizer battles fallout from rival's Vioxx debacle
By Theresa Agovino
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Pfizer Inc. looked like the big winner at first after Merck & Co. announced last week that its pain reliever Vioxx was being pulled from the market because of increased risks for heart attack and strokes.
Mary Altaffer • Associated Press But now the outlook seems less clear after European regulators said they were launching a safety investigation into the entire class of drugs that includes Vioxx, Bextra and Celebrex. Then an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine raised questions about the safety of the drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors.
Pfizer, whose shares fell $1.19, or 3.8 percent, to $29.99 yesterday, is fighting back with newspaper advertisements touting Celebrex's safety.
"We think the news about Vioxx does warrant a closer look at the class (of drugs)," said Dr. Gail Cawkwell, Pfizer's Celebrex worldwide medical team leader. But she added that the Vioxx recall is "being inappropriately extrapolated to raise questions about the safety of Celebrex."
The editorial in Wednesday's New England Journal argued otherwise.
"It would seem prudent to avoid coxibs (such as Celebrex and Bextra) in patients who have cardiovascular disease or who are at risk for it," it said.
That sentiment could make doctors wary of prescribing either of Pfizer's drugs to the millions of people who have high blood pressure and high cholesterol — both of which increase the risk of heart disease.
In addition, unlike Vioxx, neither Celebrex nor Bextra can claim on its label that is gentler on the stomach than older pain relievers called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as naproxen, that are associated with gastrointestinal problems.
"Why take the chance (on Celebrex and Bextra)?" asked Dr. Marc C. Hochberg, a professor of medicine and head of the division of rheumatology and clinical immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He is a consultant to Merck and Novartis AG, which hopes to launch a COX-2 in 2006.
David Moskowitz, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey in Arlington, Va., called the editorial "a bit of hype" but said it puts Pfizer on the defensive.
"The battle for Pfizer is proving that its drugs are not as dangerous as Vioxx," he said.
Prescriptions for Pfizer's competing products, Celebrex and Bextra, initially surged, according to one report, and analysts were predicting increased sales.
Pfizer Inc. is touting the safety of its drug Celebrex as Merck's voluntary recall of Vioxx has led to a closer look at COX-2 inhibitors.
