Bristol Consumer Package Will Include OTC Pravachol
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Royalties from OTC Pravachol would be included in a sale of Bristol-Myers Squibb's consumer brands
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Royalties from OTC Pravachol would be included in a sale of Bristol-Myers Squibb's consumer brands. "At this point in time, it's part of our U.S. consumer medicines business," CEO Peter Dolan said in a Jan. 27 earnings call announcing 2004 financial results. "We expect that Pravachol OTC would be included as part of the planned divestiture of that business." "We're continuing to explore our options" with 20 mg pravastatin, Dolan added. There are multiple firms understood to be interested in acquiring the consumer business, including GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson. However, Bayer could have an edge over other bidders if the deal were to include nonprescription Pravachol. Dolan emphasized Bristol's marketing partnership with Bayer on a potential switch of 20 mg pravastatin. The outcome of a recent FDA advisory panel review of J&J/Merck's Mevacor (20 mg lovastatin) switch proposal appears to have persuaded Bristol against retaining OTC Pravachol. The Nonprescription Drugs and Endocrinologic & Metabolic Drugs advisory committees voted 20-3 against recommending a switch of Mevacor. Bristol did not specifically include Pravachol in its previous announcement that it planned to divest the consumer brands (1 (Also see "Bristol Consumer Unit Suitors Tasked With Determining Value Of Excedrin" - Pink Sheet, 17 Jan, 2005.), p. 8). Dolan noted one of Bristol's priorities over the last 18 months has been "to hold flat or reduce spending on non-priority products in sales force" and general and administrative costs. "We have been executing against that priority, and our 2004 results and 2005 plan reflect that objective," he said. Bristol is "now more than halfway through a significant shift in our portfolio," Dolan maintained. Meanwhile, Rx Pravachol continues to be impacted by generic competition; sales of the statin decreased 3% to $710 mil. in the fourth quarter. In the same period, U.S. Pravachol sales increased 6% to $433 mil., primarily due to an upsurge in wholesaler inventory levels, though total prescriptions declined 16%. Bristol's consumer medicines sales were up 5% to $103 mil. in the quarter mostly driven by Excedrin . |