Press Release November 12, 2001

21st Century Solutions Designed To Meet 21st Century Challenges

GI Products, Arthritis Medications and Cholesterol Reducers Most Promoted to Managed Care Executives: Cognet-X, Inc.

FEASTERVILLE---(Nov. 12, 2001)---AstraZeneca PLC's new "purple pill" was the prescription drug most often promoted to managed care pharmacy directors during the third quarter, Cognet-X, Inc. reported today.

With nearly a 9% increase in promotion, AstraZeneca's Nexium surged past two competitors in the proton pump inhibitor class, according to data from Cognet-X's PAR~Rx (Promotional Assessment Research) Report™.

TAP Pharmaceutical's Prevacid, which finished first in the second quarter, placed third in the third quarter, followed by American Home Products Co.'s Protonix in fourth place. In the previous quarter, Protonix and Nexium tied for second place. The PAR-Rx Report tracks promotion to the most influential pharmacy directors in the managed care marketplace.

Significant shifts in promotion affected other leading products. Merck & Co., Inc. boosted promotion behind its arthritis medication, Vioxx, by 43%. Vioxx, which placed eighth in second-quarter promotion, tied for second place in 3Q contacts with Merck's cholesterol reducer Zocor.

Promotion for Zocor and three other cholesterol reducers rose dramatically as a fourth competitor, Bayer Pharmaceutical's Baycol, was withdrawn from the U.S. market in August due to adverse reactions. Zocor contacts to PAR-Rx panelists increased 135%; in the second quarter, Zocor ranked 14th in total contacts, Cognet-X reported.

According to Cognet-X data, promotion for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s Pravachol jumped 262% from its second-quarter level. Pravachol rose from 20th in contacts during the second quarter to fifth in the third quarter.

Pfizer, Inc.'s Lipitor (nearly 42%) and Abbott Laboratories' Tricor (nearly 89%) also posted significant contact increases and tied for 10th place in the third quarter along with GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia, Schering-Plough Corp.'s Claritin and Aventis Pharma AG's Lantus.

About the PAR-Rx Report

Cognet-X's PAR-Rx Report is a year-round service that provides the pharmaceutical industry with real-time, Internet-based competitive intelligence on pharmaceutical company promotion to influential managed care pharmacy directors.

The Report offers Cognet-X clients the ability to evaluate and analyze variable differences that are critically important to their decision-making process. The Report collects comprehensive data that can be segmented and analyzed to provide clients with "21st-Century solutions to their 21st-Century challenges."

About Cognet-X

Cognet-X offers the pharmaceutical industry market research, consulting and software development that help companies build and refine their relationships with numerous customer bases, including the managed care community. Based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Cognet-X is privately held and employee owned.

For more information on the PAR-Rx Report or other valuable Cognet-X products, please contact Robert E. Houghton (extension 101) at (215) 396-8300 or via e-mail at robh@cognetx.com.

Home | Feedback | Up

Cognet~X Inc.
1210 NorthBrook Drive, Suite 150
Feasterville, PA 19053
Toll Free: 1-866-cognetx (264-6389)
Or
E-mail us at
info@cognetx.com
sales@cognetx.com