September 10, 2001 Press Release

21st Century Solutions Designed To Meet 21st Century Challenges

Half-Year Results Show PPIs Lead Promotion to Key Managed Care Executives, Cognet~X, Inc. Reports

FEASTERVILLE---(September 10, 2001)---Amid intense competition, three proton pump inhibitors were the most heavily promoted prescription brands to managed care pharmacy directors, according to Cognet~X, Inc.'s PAR-Rx (Promotional Assessment Research) Report™.

Only a single contact separated the most-promoted product, TAP Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Prevacid, from AstraZeneca PLC's Nexium and American Home Products Co.'s Protonix.

All three products posted double-digit increases in contacts during the second quarter. Protonix gained the most, with a 25% increase in promotion between the first and second quarter, according to PAR~Rx Report findings.

The proton pump inhibitor market heated up in first quarter with the launch of Nexium, the follow-up product to AstraZeneca's "purple pill," Prilosec. The strategy for Nexium is to retain and build on Prilosec's market share as Prilosec loses patent protection later this year. TAP has pursued an aggressive strategy to challenge Nexium and, particularly, Prilosec, primarily through seeking "preferred" formulary status and a campaign to convert Prilosec patients to Prevacid.

PAR~Rx analysis shows, for example, that two-thirds of Prevacid's second-quarter contacts related to formulary issues involved discussion of "preferred" formulary status for the brand-more than 20% greater than that for any other PPI in the same time frame.

"The focus is on Prilosec users to switch to Prevacid," one PAR~Rx panelist noted. "TAP is offering coupons for switching patients from Prilosec to Prevacid," added another.

By contrast, Protonix's strategy often involved converting patients from Prilosec and Prevacid. "I provided an introduction letter for use in arranging lunchtime speaker programs at a number of medical office sites as part of a Protonix switch program for Prilosec and Prevacid," wrote one PAR~Rx panelist. "Compared to Prevacid," another noted.

Other therapeutic categories with close rivalries in the top 10 roster for the first half of 2001, include oral antidiabetic agents and the pain-relieving class known as Cox-2 inhibitors. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s Glucovance and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.'s Starlix placed third and sixth, respectively, for the first 6 months of the year. And Merck & Co., Inc.'s Vioxx pushed past Pharmacia Corp.'s Celebrex (co-promoted by Pfizer, Inc.). Vioxx ranked ninth; Celebrex placed 10th. While Vioxx promotion remained stable between 1Q 2001 and 2Q 2001, Celebrex contacts to PAR~Rx panelists climbed nearly 32%.

According to Cognet-X's PAR~Rx Report, the top 10 prescription medicines most heavily promoted to managed care pharmacy directors during the first 6 months of 2001 are as follows:

1. Prevacid
2. Nexium
2. Protonix
3. Glucovance
4. Celexa
5. Advair Diskus
6. Starlix
7. Baycol
8. Allegra
9. Vioxx
10. Celebrex

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 services 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 at 1-866-cognetx (866-264-6389) or via e-mail at robh@cognetx.com

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