Pfizer Strikes Pharmacy Deals to Hold Lipitor Sales
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Pfizer Inc. is seeking to add Express Scripts Inc. to the list of U.S. pharmacy benefits managers that won’t dispense generic Lipitor after the world’s best-selling drug loses patent protection this month.
Lipitor had $10.7 billion in sales last year, about half in the U.S. Deals made with companies such as insurer Coventry Health Care Inc. may help Pfizer retain as much as 40 percent of users through May, said Paul Bisaro, chief executive officer at Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. Watson is producing a generic version approved by New York-based Pfizer.