Avandia prescriptions fall after safety questioned

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NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - The total weekly number of U.S. prescriptions for GlaxoSmithKline Plc's (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Avandia diabetes drug have fallen 16 percent following a report that questioned its safety, Deutsche Bank said on Monday.

The number of new prescriptions for the Glaxo drug during the same week ending May 25 -- the best measure of shifting sales trends -- fell 21 percent, Deutsche Bank analyst Barbara Ryan said in a research note. She cited marketing data from IMS Health (RX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The plunging sales of Avandia follow a May 21 analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine that suggested Avandia might raise the risk of heart attack by 43 percent.

The analysis by a top U.S. cardiologist, Steven Nissen, was based on conclusions drawn from pooled data from 42 trials involving nearly 28,000 patients.

Avandia's problems have prompted many patients to instead use Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.'s (4502.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Actos, a rival drug that works through the same mechanism as Avandia, the IMS data suggest.

During the week ending May 25, total prescriptions for Actos jumped 20 percent, while the number of new prescriptions rose 56 percent, according to the IMS data.

((Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, editing by Mark Porter; Reuters Messaging: ransdell.pierson.reuters.com@reuters.net; 646-223-6034; ransdell.pierson@reuters.com)) Keywords: GLAXOSMITHKLINE AVANDIA/

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