HIV club says door is open; Market choked with patches

Companies can get more information about the Inter-Company Collaboration for AIDS Drug Development by contacting Richard P. MacGuire, chairman of the collaboration's legal committee, at Merck & Co., P.O. Box 2000, Rahway, N.J. 07065, tel. 908-594-6874, fax 908-594-3391. Market choked with patches Alza Corp.and Cygnus Therapeutic Systems reported the ill-effects of a glutted market for the smoking cessation therapy. Citing a U.S. patch market that has "declined markedly" in the past year, AZA said continued decreased patch shipments to its partner Marion Merrell Dow would make it "unlikely" that AZA's net sales would "significantly" exceed cost of goods shipped until other AZA products are introduced by its marketing partners. CYGN said revenue in its first quarter ended March 31 fell to $3.7 million from $10.3 million in the fourth quarter, primarily due to lower product sales. The company said prescriptions during the quarter in the U.S., where its Nicotrol patch holds an 11 percent market share, were filled primarily from the inventory of its marketing partner, Warner-Lambert. CYGN said it had taken a 50 percent share of the U.K. market, where the product is sold by Kabi Pharmacia. David Steinberg, an analyst at Volpe, Welty & Co., told BioCentury that analysts' initial estimates of a $1 billion patch market overshot the mark, with the actual market closer to $300 million to $400 million.

Biotechnology companies with anti-viral HIV research programs can join the 15 U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies that will collaborate on clinical trials of combined anti-viral HIV therapies, but they shouldn't wait around to be recruited into the effort...