Bristol Pravachol U.S. Market Share Is Holding At 15%, Firm Says

The market share of Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pravachol has stabilized at about 15%, the company said during its quarterly sales and earnings teleconference Oct. 19.

U.S. sales of the lipid-lowering agent fell 5% for the quarter to $231 mil., leading to a 1% worldwide decline to $386 mil.

The decline reflected a weak performance during the first two months of the quarter, Bristol said. The roll-out of a strengthened marketing program for the drug has helped the product level off at a 15% market share over the past six weeks, Bristol said.

The company expects that it will be able to return Pravachol to growth status. The company expects it to show growth of about 5% worldwide for the full year.

The downturn in Pravachol sales was also reflected in strong performances during the quarter by two of its competitors, Warner-Lambert/Pfizer's Lipitor and Merck's Zocor.

Lipitor sales were up 72% worldwide to $981 mil., Warner-Lambert reported. The product continues to hold a 42% share of new prescriptions in the U.S. market, the company added. Merck's Zocor posted a 28% gain in the U.S. to $715 mil. for the quarter. Worldwide sales grew more slowly at 17%, reaching $1.15 bil.

With Pravachol apparently settling into a slower growth phase, Bristol's type 2 antidiabetic Glucophage appears to be on track to become the company's number one product in 2000.

Glucophage is currently Bristol's third largest product with $349 mil. in sales for the quarter (almost entirely in the U.S.). With a 57% growth rate for the third quarter, it is closing rapidly on both Pravachol and the anticancer agent Taxol (up 23% to $375 mil.).

Glucophage's dollar volume growth rate outpaced the underlying script demand, which was up in the 30% range.

Bristol explained that one factor in the dollar volume growth is the company's effort to encourage higher doses of the product. Bristol believes a 2 g dose is optimal, and said that a majority of patients are not on that dose.

Glucophage sales also received a small boost from investment buying by wholesalers ahead of an Oct. 1 price increase, Bristol indicated. The impact was in the 5%-8% range, the company said.

The Oct. 1 price increase was the second for Glucophage this year: the company also raised the price Jan. 15. Both times the company raised the price 7%. During the teleconference, Bristol explained that it believed the Glucophage price did not reflect the product's status as "best in class."

The Oct. 1 increase was also part of Bristol's broader strategy to address the potential for end-of-the-year stockpiling. Like Searle and Merck, Bristol has assured the trade that it does not intend to increase its prices early in 2000 so that investment buying by wholesalers does not exacerbate any strains placed on the distribution system by consumer stockpiling (¹ (Also see "Searle, Merck Promise No More Price Increases Until March 2000" - Pink Sheet, 11 Oct, 1999.)).

Bristol has a different Y2K problem with Glucophage: the Waxman/Hatch exclusivity for the product expires in September 2000 (after a six-month pediatric extension). Bristol has two line extensions in the works: an NDA for a metformin/glyburide combination was filed Sept. 30, and a once-daily metformin NDA is planned for the fourth quarter.

Bristol's worldwide sales for the quarter grew 11% to $5 bil. Earnings were up 13% to $1.52 bil. Pharmaceutical sales grew 21% in the U.S. to $2.32 bil. Worldwide pharmaceutical sales grew 14% to $3.55 bil.