Pharma's Market

PHARMA WATCH LIST

SPECIAL REPORT

Healthy Horizons
A brand new series of weekly segments which will explore the macro and micro issues facing the global economy.

LATEST FROM OUR BLOGS

» More

- US Stocks Avoid Closing Down Over 1%, Again

TOP HEADLINES

» Markets | Economy | Companies

- Private Homebuilders in US: Dead Men Walking

PHARMA'S MARKET VIDEO

» More

Wall Street Protests 29 Apr 2010
Following a big demonstration in favor of financial regulation right outside the NYSE, with CNBC's Mike Huckman.
March on Wall Street 29 Apr 2010
Main Street takes to Wall Street today with thousands of union community activists marching to make the big banks pay, with CNBC's Mike Huckman.
Mike Huckman: Reporter's Reporter 29 Apr 2010
Original air date, June 26, 2002.
SBUX Beats the Street 21 Apr 2010
CNBC's Mike Huckman has Starbucks' earnings breakdown.

The Orange Squeeze on Dimon

16 Apr 2010

Some students at Syracuse University have a different idea rather than having JPMorgan's chairman/CEO Jamie Dimon deliver this year's commencement speech, reports CNBC's Mike Huckman.

Nasdaq Outperforms 14 Apr 2010
The Nasdaq easily outperforming the other major indexes today, with CNBC's Mike Huckman.

RSS FEED

» Help

Subscribe to this RSS feed
Stay up to date with Pharma's Market.

AstraZeneca: "Casualty" Of Generic Zocor In Statin Wars

Published: Thursday, 1 Nov 2007 | 1:34 PM ET

Text Size

By: Mike Huckman
Reporter

Zocor
CNBC.com
This morning, we got more evidence about the havoc generic Zocor is wreaking on all of the companies that make brand-name statins--the pills to fight cholesterol. AstraZeneca [AZN Loading... () ] is the latest casualty. On a down day in the markets AZN is one of the biggest losers in the sector.

The company reported that in the third quarter, worldwide sales of the most potent statin on the market, Crestor, went up only $13 million dollars from the second quarter. But in the U.S., Crestor sales actually dropped sequentially from $353 million in the second quarter to $342 million in the third quarter. That ain't good. And to make matters worse, a privately-held company is seeking permission to make generic Crestor in the U.S.

Merck [MRK Loading... () ] and Schering-Plough [SGP Loading... () ] recently reported that sales of their cholesterol-combo pill, Vytorin, were flat sequentially. And sales of Pfizer's [PFE Loading... () ] Lipitor went down again. Pfizer Chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler calls it an "unprecedented commercial assault" on his company's biggest franchise. The lack of robust revenue growth in this huge drug segment is obviously bad news for the big pharmas and their investors.

Cheaper, generic Zocor, though, is good for the insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers, big firms that are looking to cut their prescription drug costs and patients on a budget. But don't assume it's a boon for the generic drug companies. Analysts say so many of them rush in to make copies of big-selling drugs like Zocor that prices fall precipitously.

Questions? Comments?