INDIANAPOLIS – Eli Lilly and Co. can sell its osteoporosis drug Evista to doctors as a two-for-one treatment that also prevents breast cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Evista as a preventive measure to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer for some women, Lilly announced yesterday.
Evista rang up slightly more than $1 billion in sales last year as Lilly's fifth best-selling drug. Analysts say the newly approved use should bump future sales.
“This isn't going to be a windfall indication, but we expect this will help to modestly grow Evista sales,” said Brandon Troegle, who covers Lilly for Morningstar.
Lilly introduced Evista in 1998 for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. But it also has been testing the drug as a cancer preventer for 10 years. The company applied for the new use after conducting studies on about 37,000 postmenopausal women, spokeswoman Sharon Corbitt said.
The FDA approval means Lilly can market it as a once-daily pill to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and those at high risk for the aggressive cancer. The drug doesn't treat existing cancer.
Doctors could have prescribed the drug as a preventive measure before the FDA approval, but Lilly couldn't market it that way. Analysts say they're not sure how many new patients the drug will attract.
Roughly 180,000 women are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer each year, according to the American Cancer Society.
Lehman Brothers analyst Tony Butler said he doesn't think Evista will draw many new patients who don't have osteoporosis already. He believes a small pool of doctors already use the drug in its cancer-preventing role.
“I think it's hard to say you might be at risk for breast cancer, take this,” he said. “I think it's easier to say you need this for osteoporosis and you've got a history of breast cancer.”
Evista's sales grew only 1 percent in 2006 and in the second quarter of this year. Troegle believes it might see as much as 10 percent growth in 2008, thanks in part to the new use.
