Bayer Pharmaceuticals' voluntary market withdrawal of its top-selling drug Baycol (cerivastatin) has Merck & Co. positioning itself to scoop up patients looking for an alternative to the beleaguered drug. Bayer withdrew Baycol from the U.S. market because of reports of sometimes fatal rhabdomyolysis, a severe muscle adverse reaction to the drug.
Merck subsequently added a prominent "Attention Baycol Users" headline to its consumer ads for Zocor (simvastatin), one of several other lipid-lowering statins still on the market. The ads feature football coach Dan Reeves and run in large circulation publications, such as The Wall Street Journal.
Baycol, sold as Lipobay outside the United States, accounts for more than 25 percent of Bayer's healthcare sales and about 16 percent of operating income, according to a report in the Financial Times. In addition to Zocor, the Food and Drug Administration suggested former Baycol users consider Mevacor (lovastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin), Lescol (fluvastatin) and Lipitor (atorvastatin).
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