X-Message-Number: 18738
From: "Peter Christiansen" <>
Subject: "anti aging drugs will be very expenseive"
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 12:34:38 -0600
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Claritin To Be Sold Over the Counter
Insurers, FDA Had Pressured Manufacturer
_____From The Post_____
After Giants Clash, We Pick Up the Pieces (The Washington Post, May 22,
2001)
Panel: Reclassify Allergy Pills (The Washington Post, May 12, 2001)
Allergy Pills Spark Dispute (The Washington Post, May 10, 2001)
_____MSNBC Video_____
The Post's Ceci Connolly on Allergy Drugs
_____Industry Watch_____
Pharmaceuticals
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By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 9, 2002; Page A01
The maker of Claritin, relenting in the face of pressure from insurers, the
federal government and competing drug companies, announced yesterday it will
soon offer the nation's most popular allergy medication without a prescription.
If the move is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, America's 40
million allergy sufferers could purchase the drug over the counter but they
could not look to insurance companies to cover the cost. Still, health
economists predicted that competition among several antihistamines ultimately
would mean lower prices for patients.
Schering-Plough Corp.'s decision represents a dramatic reversal from just eight
months ago. The company then fought an unprecedented petition by WellPoint
Health Networks -- a Thousand Oaks, Calif., health insurance company -- for the
FDA to reclassify Claritin and its two leading competitors, Allegra and Zyrtec.
The how and where of buying Claritin offers a window into much larger economic
forces at work within the nation's health care system. As medical costs continue
to rise, patients, insurers and employers are searching for savings.
Prescription drug spending, which increased 19 percent in 2000, has become a
popular target.
Because insurers reimburse patients for prescription medication, but not
over-the-counter products, WellPoint saw a major opportunity to save on a class
of drugs that now costs the company $45 million annually. "Within five years,
our prescription costs will double," said Robert Seidman, WellPoint chief
pharmaceutical officer. "Anything we can do to stem that trend is in the best
interest of consumers."
The pharmaceutical industry and some physicians groups objected to WellPoint's
petition, saying that allergies are serious illnesses that require medical
supervision.
For Schering-Plough, the change in status would mean a sharp drop in profits.
Prescription drugs, protected by 20-year patents, are far more lucrative than
generics because companies can charge much more for them. Traditionally, drug
manufacturers wait for a patent to expire before switching to the
over-the-counter market.
Claritin is the top-selling drug for the Kenilworth, N.J., company, generating
$2.3 billion last year. Analysts project that could drop to $500 million in
2003.
But as pressure mounted, Schering-Plough had little choice but to acquiesce,
said Steve Francesco, a pharmaceutical industry analyst who once worked for the
company.
First, an FDA advisory panel sided with WellPoint, voting last June that the
three drugs are safe enough to be sold without a prescription. Claritin, on the
market since 1993, has a strong safety record, the panel noted, and unlike
popular over-the-counter remedies such as Benadryl, the three prescription drugs
do not cause side effects such as drowsiness.
Then two of Schering-Plough's competitors -- American Home Products and Johnson
& Johnson -- were racing to put Claritin-clones on the market, Francesco said.
"Since the drugs are basically the same, their angle will be to be cheaper" than
Claritin, he said.
By taking the rare step of voluntarily reclassifying its blockbuster drug,
Schering-Plough hopes to redirect some patients to its newer Clarinex
prescription allergy medicine, or at least prevent Claritin users from trying
other generics when they become available.
With the two drugs, Schering-Plough will have "an opportunity to establish brand
leadership in both the prescription and OTC categories," Richard W. Zahn,
president of Schering Laboratories, said in a statement. The FDA timetable calls
for approving the switch by late November, but many industry experts expected
Schering-Plough will move quickly to lock in customers.
In the near term, Princeton University health economist Uwe Reinhardt said,
insured patients will bear the increased cost, while uninsured Americans and
those allergy sufferers who didn't go to a doctor previously will likely seek
treatment. "The theory, which I believe, is that the price will come down and
more will be consumed," he said.
WellPoint's Seidman said that consumers pay $20 and up for a doctor's visit and
$17 on average for a prescription co-payment. In Canada, over-the-counter
Claritin sells for about $11 for a month's supply. "We believe it will be less
than $17 a month over the counter here in the United States," he said.
Francesco agreed: "This is American capitalism at its best. The allergy market
in the next 3-5 years will explode and ultimately consumers will save money."
Spokesmen at Aventis SA and Pfizer Inc., which make Allegra and Zyrtec,
respectively, said they still believe their antihistamines should remain
prescription medications.
2002 The Washington Post Company
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