Executive Summary

J&J's ORTHO-NOVUM 7/7/7 JULY SALES APPROACHED $1.25 MIL. (at retail acquisition cost) to outpace Syntex' Tri-Norinyl in the third month of marketing for both oral triphasic contraceptives, Pharmaceutical Data Services (PDS) projected in its just-released Alpha Gram for July. PDS data show Ortho-Novum 7/7/7 sales running approximately four times ahead of Tri-Norinyl sales of $299,000 in July on roughly five times the total Rxs written -- 122,000 total Rxs for the Ortho product in July compared to 25,000 Rxs for Syntex' new contraceptive. After three months on the market, Ortho's Ortho-Novum 7/7/7 is approaching an annualized sales rate of approximately $15 mil. According to PDS projections, the Ortho triphasic contraceptive was out of the starting blocks well ahead of the Syntex product by June. In that month, Ortho-Novum 7/7/7 had sales of nearly $700,000 (retail acquisition cost) on 64,000 total Rxs, while Tri-Norinyl sales lagged at $88,000 in June on 9,000 total Rxs. Approved by FDA in mid-April, both oral contraceptives contain low doses of estrogen and increasing doses of progestogen from week to week through the course of the ovulatory cycle. "The triphasic oral contraceptive attempts to minimize side effects and potential for long-term adverse results by combining a minimum level of estrogen together with progestogen, which is adjusted to meet the differing requirements of the ovulatory cycle," PDS explained.