Claritin sales slump ahead of OTC switch
pharmafile | October 21, 2003 | News story | |Â Â Â
Profits at Schering-Plough have been hit by the company's search for a follow-up to its blockbuster allergy drug Claritin.
The combined effects of increasing its R&D budget, near static sales and the impending switch of its biggest-selling drug to OTC status slashed the company's profits by a third.
The company, which is also being investigated over whether it leaked a profits warning, did have some good news when the FDA approved its cholesterol reduction drug Zetia.
Zetia was co-developed with Merck and is a first-in-class treatment that inhibits the absorption of cholesterol. The once-daily drug was approved for use as monotherapy or in conjunction with statins.
Claritin is due to be launched as an OTC product at the end of November and with this in mind, US wholesalers have been reducing their stocks of the drug.
This stock reduction will gouge about $250 million out of the company's 2002 profits and Chief Executive Richard Kogan has confirmed his earlier flat earnings guidance for the year.
Behind Claritin ($402 million for the quarter) the company's biggest selling products were its Claritin-follow-up Clarinex ($164 million), nasal allergy spray Nasonex ($160 million) and arthritis treatment Remicade ($92 million).
Schering-Plough increased its R&D spend by 14% to $354 million for the quarter while product sales rose by just 2% to $2.4 billion.






