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As the costs of research and marketing rise, drug companies
have tried to defray costs by working out co-marketing
deals with other companies. Large global companies are
no exception. In fact they have been in the forefront
of such alliances.
An alliance can help a company reduce launch costs from
the region of $ 1 billion for a large introduction. On
the other hand, profits have to be shared.
Worse, as some companies have discovered, alliances can
hamstring a management from modifying its strategy to
keep pace with the changes in the industry. The result
may be less restrictive alliances in future -- at least
alliances that are less restrictive for licensors of new
drugs.
| Alliance |
Sales
($ billion
- 1999 est.)
|
Remarks |
| Losec
/ Prilosec |
5.60
|
In
1998 Astra bought out of a restrictive joint venture
with Merck. The reason - it wanted to merger with
Zeneca |
| Epogen |
4.25
|
Amgen
and Johnson & Johnson are still trying to sort
out which company will operate in which market |
| Lipitor |
3.20
|
The
Pfizer-Warner Lambert co-marketing of blockbuster
cholesterol drug Lipitor is in the doldrums after
Pfizer made an unsolicited $72 billion takeover bid
for Warner-Lambert which has sought legal intervention
to end its agreement with Pfizer. Pfizer complains
that it has been forced to make its bid after Warner
Lambert agreed to a friendly merger with American
Home Products. |
| Prevacid |
2.00
|
Takeda
of Japan, which earlier needed the alliance with Abbot
for the co-marketing of Prevacid, doesn''t need the
alliance any more, but cannot disentangle itself from
it easily. |
| Procardia
/ Adalat |
1.98
|
Bayer
of Germany licensed Pfizer to sell its nifedipine
as Procardia in the US. Now Bayer has launched the
same drug in the US market as Adalat, in competition
with Pfizer. |
| Celebrex |
n.a.
|
Monsanto
drug subsidiary Searle is tied down to Pfizer with
its co-marketing arrangement for Celebrex. Pfizer''s
interest in acquiring Celebrex is seen as a possible
obstacle to any rival move to take over Searle from
Monsanto. |
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