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AstraZeneca cholesterol pill goes down 'terrific' in US

Stephen Foley
Friday 03 October 2003 00:00 BST
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AstraZeneca yesterday hailed the make-or-break US launch of its cholesterol-lowering pill, Crestor, a success, as the pharmaceuticals giant talked investors through one of the most envied new drug pipelines in the industry.

At the company's annual business review day, Sir Tom McKillop, chief executive, said Crestor's reception in the fortnight since its official launch has been "terrific".

While analysts cautioned against reading too much into such early data, the company said there have already been 25,000 US prescriptions for Crestor and the drug has 2 per cent of the market for cholesterol-lowering treatments, thanks to a massive push by its US salesforce.Sir Tom said: "I'm very happy with the take-off of Crestor. The physician response is very encouraging and we are seeing prescriptions growing strongly.

"But ... we've got to drive the momentum. You get one shot at launching a major new product. This is our shot and the start has been terrific."

Investors were shown how the take-off for Crestor in other, admittedly less lucrative drugs markets, has also been strong. In particular, in Canada, where the drug was launched earlier this year, prescription growth has been stronger than at the launch of Lipitor, Pfizer's similar drug and now the biggest-selling prescription medicine in the world.

Analysts were pleased with the early data, which gave confidence that the product will hit the £3.6bn annual worldwide sales forecast. ING Financial Markets said sales could be on course for $6bn (£3.6bn) if Crestor's US market share exceeds 10 per cent by the end of the year. AstraZeneca shares ended the day 27p firmer at 2,604p. The stock is one of the most expensive in the global pharmaceutical industry because of the perceived depth of the company's new and close-to-launch drugs.

Yesterday, AstraZeneca revealed that Galida, a new anti-diabetic pill, had moved into the final phase of human trials, and that Exanta, a new blood-thinning drug, is "in the final stages" of a review by French regulators that should lead to full European approval by the end of the year.

AstraZeneca needs the Crestor launch to be a success in the US, the biggest drug market in the world, to offset falling sales of other drugs, including its now off-patent ulcer pill Losec. The breadth of the immediate pipelines is often flatteringly contrasted with that of GlaxoSmithKline, its bigger UK rival. GSK has its own "research and development day" scheduled for 3 December, when investors hope it will generate similar enthusiasm for its longer-term prospects.

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