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Zeneca sues Eli Lilly
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February 26, 1999: 11:48 a.m. ET
Suit charges Lilly falsely promotes drug as breast cancer preventive
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Pharmaceutical company Zeneca Inc. filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly late Thursday, charging the rival drug maker is falsely promoting its osteoporosis drug as a breast cancer preventive.
Zeneca (ZEN), a U.S. subsidiary of the London-based Zeneca Group PLC, said it filed suit against Indianapolis, Ind.-based Eli Lilly (LLY) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, demanding that Lilly stop its "false and misleading" promotion that Lilly's Evista has been proven to reduce the incidence of breast cancer.
An Eli Lilly spokesman denied the allegation.
Evista, the company said, has been approved solely for the prevention of osteoporosis. Zeneca said its product, Nolvadex, is the only drug that has been proven effective for the reduction of the incidence of breast cancer in high risk women.
Zeneca also said it is lawsuit that Lilly's alleged misleading campaign for Evista has created a public health risk as many women are now using Evista instead of Nolvadex "in the mistaken belief that the drug has been proven to reduce their chances of developing breast cancer."
Zeneca said Lilly sales representatives have "systematically and deliberately attempted to mislead doctors" into believing that Evista is a breast cancer treatment and can be prescribed as an alternative to Nolvadex. The company said surveys indicate as many as one in three doctors has been led to believe this and some breast cancer patients have been switched from Nolvadex to Evista as a result of Lilly's activities.
"Repeated requests to Eli Lilly from both the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) and Zeneca have failed to halt the company's misleading promotional campaign for Evista," Robert C. Black, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals president, said.
Lilly spokesman Jeff Newton said that while he had not seen the complaint, Lilly stands behind its promotional practices.
Zeneca was down 1/2 at 41-9/16 in late morning trading. Lilly was down 1/8 at 93-1/8. 
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Eli Lilly
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