Procter & Gamble's aborted merger discussions with Warner-Lambert and American Home Products may herald the next phase in the evolution of consumer-focused pharmaceutical marketing.

Procter & Gamble's aborted merger discussions with Warner-Lambert and American Home Products may herald the next phase in the evolution of consumer-focused pharmaceutical marketing.

Approval of the proton pump inhibitor pantoprazole is expected in the third quarter of 2000, American Home Products Senior VP-Science & Technology Robert Levy, MD, tells the Chase H&Q Healthcare Conference in San Francisco Jan. 11. The product is "approvable" at FDA. The company expects to be able to provide information requested by FDA from data it has already collected. AHP and Warner-Lambert have discussed a co-promotion agreement for Protonix while pursuing a merger, but Warner-Lambert has now decided to pursue merger negotiations with Pfizer (1see related story, p. 24)