ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 26, 1993                   TAG: 9311250171
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

IT'S SWITCH-AND-SELL TIME FOR DRUG MAKERS

Consumers can expect to see more prescription drugs on convenience store shelves in coming years as the trend toward self-medication accelerates and pharmaceutical companies seek to breathe life into aging products.

Several important drugs are awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval for sale without a doctor's prescription. Among them are versions of Tagamet, SmithKline Beecham's $1.1 billion ulcer drug, Burroughs Wellcome's herpes drug Zovirax, and Syntex's Anaprox, a pain reliever.

These and dozens of other so-called "switches" will result in billions of dollars of sales, helping drug companies support revenues in the face of an increasingly competitive market.

Last year retail sales of drugs based on ingredients that had been switched from prescription to over-the-counter status totaled $3.3 billion, says FIND-SVP Inc., a New York research concern. By 1998, it predicts that figure will burgeon to $7.3 billion.

To successfully switch a drug, pharmaceutical companies must prove its misuse will not endanger a consumer's health. If they also are able to convince regulators that people can make simple diagnoses and follow clear-cut directions on packages, the public probably will be able to buy everything from hair-loss treatments to anti-smoking gum without first visiting a doctor.

"It's a very positive trend for the consumer," said Frank Rathbun, spokesman for the Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Association.

"And in the context of the health care reform debate, what's being discussed is cost and access," he said. Over-the-counter drugs cost about $4, while the average prescription medicine costs $24, not including the requisite doctor visit.

For drug companies, switching is a smart way to boost revenues, since over-the-counter sales often exceed the revenues the drug generated as a prescription medicine. 


 by CNB