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Strong launch for Clarinex
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February 5, 2002: 2:20 p.m. ET
Schering-Plough improved antihistamine shows strong growth in market share.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Schering-Plough Corp. is making good progress getting patients to switch to a new version of its popular antihistamine, according to analysts.
Based on data released Monday, Lehman Bros. analyst Tony Butler said the drugmaker showed strong gains in market share for Clarinex, the company's successor for Claritin.
In the week ended Jan. 25, the drug's second full week of availability, Clarinex's share of the antihistamine market rose to 4.3 percent from 1.9 percent the week before.
Schering-Plough (SGP: down $0.03 to $32.58, Research, Estimates) is hoping allergy sufferers will switch to Clarinex in numbers before the Claritin patent runs out in 2002 and cheaper generic versions hit the market.
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To spur the shift, the company is selling Clarinex at an 18 percent discount to Claritin.
In a research note, ABN Amro drug analyst Girish Tyagi said Clarinex is enjoying a strong early launch and noted brand equity for the drug will be even more important if over-the-counter status is granted for generic versions of Claritin.
Last Thursday Schering-Plough said it had sued Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ: down $0.92 to $55.39, Research, Estimates) McNeil Consumer Healthcare and American Home Products' (AHP: up $0.62 to $64.02, Research, Estimates) Whitehall-Robins Healthcare for filing applications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell generic Claritin without a prescription.
Schering-Plough said it is "on record with the FDA as opposing the switch of prescription medications, including the class of second-generation antihistamines such as Claritin, to OTC status without the consent of the sponsor that holds the New Drug Application (NDA)."
Tyagi said the legal battle will "likely take considerable time to play out." 
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