Schering-Plough touts drug pipeline "stars"

By Ransdell Pierson and Lewis Krauskopf

KENILWORTH, N.J., Nov 24 (Reuters) - Schering-Plough Corp (SGP.N) touted five "stars" of its product pipeline nearing the market on Monday and highlighted a series of earlier stage medicines that it said could be first and best in new classes of treatment.

The drugmaker, whose shares rose 3.6 percent, claimed its robust research pipeline combined with its relatively low exposure to patent expirations and generic competition set it apart in the pharmaceutical industry.

"We believe we're hitting the sweet spot on product flow and expected exclusivity at a time so many of our competitors will be facing product droughts and patent cliffs," CEO Fred Hassan told analysts at a meeting at its New Jersey headquarters to review its research pipeline.

Analysts said the share price rise reflected the positive tone of the meeting and general enthusiasm over drugs that have not previously been on investors' radar screens.

"They're worth watching," Miller Tabak analyst Les Funtleyder said of the introduced experimental drugs, pointing especially to a drug for Parkinson's disease.

The company, whose shares have been hammered this year on concerns over its cholesterol franchise, highlighted five medicines in late-stage development or under review by regulators, the foremost being its TRA blood-clot treatment that could be a blockbuster.

It also pointed to Simponi, also known as golimumab, that is under review by regulators as a rheumatoid arthritis treatment. It said its hepatitis C drug, boceprevir, has proven sustained effectiveness without rash problems tied to rival medicines.

However, analysts cautioned at the meeting that two of the five "stars" have been bottled up by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

One, a schizophrenia treatment, now known by the brand name Saphris, and also called asenapine, has seen its approval delayed. The FDA earlier this year unexpectedly rejected Bridion, which reverses the effects of anesthesia.

Citigroup analyst John Boris said Saphris and Bridion are "critical for revitalizing the U.S. franchise" and was concerned about them. Bridion is likely to require a safety study on allergic reactions, Boris said.

Of the earlier-stage products that could be first and best in class, one has the potential to treat psoriasis and Crohn's disease without infections seen in standard treatments. Another is a fertility drug, known as an LH agonist, that can be taken orally.

A third is beta secretase inhibitor for Alzheimer's disease that addresses a certain type of brain plaque. The Parkinson's disease drug, known as preladenant, met the main goal of a mid-stage trial, the company announced on Monday.

Schering-Plough also revealed it would start human research next year into a flu vaccine made from living cells rather than chicken eggs.

Monday's meeting was the first update for investors on Schering-Plough's research pipeline since its purchase of Organon Biosciences a year ago.

It comes as its prospects have been overshadowed this year by controversy over the safety and effectiveness of its cholesterol drugs, Vytorin and Zetia. Total sales of the drugs, which the company markets with Merck & Co (MRK.N), fell 15 percent in the third quarter.