Pfizer’s Celebrex Sales Climb, Data Show

Pfizer Inc.’s Celebrex gained a majority of sales for new-generation painkillers in the month after Merck & Co. yanked Vioxx because of safety concerns, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical information company.

Pfizer’s other cox-2 inhibitor, Bextra, gained fewer prescriptions in October and in November faced heightened scrutiny of its safety.

Merck faces a flood of lawsuits after Vioxx was linked to increased risk of heart attack and stroke and the company withdrew it from the market Sept. 30. Analysts estimate that the company’s legal liabilities could reach $18 billion.

In October, the first full month of data after the Vioxx withdrawal, sales of Celebrex topped $260 million, or 63.5% of the market for cox-2 inhibitors, according to IMS Health.

In September, Celebrex had accounted for 48.7% of the market for new-generation painkillers.

Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company, reiterated Tuesday that it would meet its 2004 earnings target but said it would lose $14 billion in revenue over the next three years because of patent expirations.

The company said it would earn $2.12 to $2.14 a share before charges and $1.58 to $1.60 a share after charges. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call predicted earnings of $2.13 a share excluding items.

Chief Executive Hank McKinnell said Pfizer was on schedule to complete the filing of 20 new drug applications by the end of 2006 as it confronts patent expirations affecting 31% of its sales.

A new combination cholesterol medicine, a pill to help smokers quit and a portfolio of cancer drugs will do the most to replace $14 billion in annual revenue from drugs that will face generic competition, McKinnell said.

Pfizer shares rose 44 cents to $27.77 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Associated Press and Bloomberg News were used in compiling this report.