Generic competition threatens AstraZeneca.

Investors Chronicle, August, 2004

The US launch this month of cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin could mean thinner pickings for AstraZeneca's product, Crestor.

Crestor has been linked to muscle-wasting condition rhabdomyolysis, and US lobby group Public Citizen has petitioned the FDA for an outright ban.

Vytorin's launch comes as a further blow to AstraZeneca, which is facing an anti-competition investigation by the European Commission (EC) over the marketing of ulcer drug, Prilosec.

Crestor has been a disappointment, and US law firms are already advertising on the internet for potential litigants, so the adverse publicity could be damaging. But the EC investigation will, at worst, result in a relatively small fine. Fairly priced.