Release issued 9th September 2008

Premium priced drug classes account for 70 percent of market sales,
according to a new report from Decision Resources

September 9, 2008-Waltham, Mass. – Decision Resources, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, forecasts robust sales growth in the next five years of currently marketed glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors for the treatment of unstable angina (UA)/non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). In 2012, sales in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan will reach more than $129 million for Schering-Plough/Millennium Pharmaceuticals/GlaxoSmithKline’s Integrilin, $95 million for Centocor/Eli Lilly’s ReoPro and nearly $28 million for Merck/Medicure’s Aggrastat.

The new Pharmacor report Acute Coronary Syndrome: UA/NSTEMI finds that antiplatelet agents such as Integrilin, Reopro and Aggrastat form a critical component in the treatment of UA/NSTEMI, owing to the central role of platelet aggregation and activation in disease pathophysiology. Additionally, while premium priced parenteral classes such as direct thrombin inhibitors and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors account for 70 percent of market sales, relatively inexpensive oral drug classes such as ADP receptor antagonists, nitrates, statins, calcium channel blockers and beta blockers generate most of their sales outside of UA/NSTEMI in chronic indications.

The most advanced therapy in clinical development for UA/NSTEMI is Daiichi Sankyo/Eli Lilly’s Effient, a new ADP receptor antagonist. Over the next 10 years, Effient will experience only minor sales for UA/NSTEMI because of the drug’s mixed results in the TRITON-TIMI-38 clinical trial, which will result in the limiting of its use to niche populations.

“Continuing uptake of premium priced glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors that include Integrilin, ReoPro and Aggrastat will also contribute to sales growth in the UA/NSTEMI market,” said Marcus Bain, Ph.D., analyst at Decision Resources. “Currently, these agents are mainly used in patients with recurrent ischemia who are undergoing interventional treatment, although their increasing use in early diagnosed patients will further contribute to sales.”

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