PFPC Daily - November 7, 2004

NOTE: Paxil is called Seroxat in the UK

"Revealed: secret plan to push'happy' pills"

· MPs probe drugs giant's bid to boost Seroxat
· Fears over new targets for anti-depressant

The Observer - November 7, 2004

By Jamie Doward and Robin McKie

Britain's largest drug company drew up a secret plan to double sales
of the controversial anti-depressant Seroxat by marketing it as a
cure for a raft of less serious mental conditions, The Observer can
reveal today.

The contents of the 250-page document have alarmed health campaigners
who accuse the firm, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), of putting profit before
the therapeutic needs of patients by attempting to broaden the market
for the drug which has been linked to a spate of suicides.

The revelation is likely to prompt further concerns about the role
and influence of the pharmaceutical industry, which has come under
severe scrutiny in recent months. The document is now being
investigated by a parliamentary inquiry into the drugs industry.

The internal report carries a section which outlines how GSK planned
to double sales of 'selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI)' -
the industry term for anti-depressants - by winning the marketing war
against Seroxat's chief rival, Prozac, manufacured by Eli Lilly.

Written in 1998 and subsequently updated in following years, the
section is entitled: 'Towards the second billion - all SSRIs are not
the same' and discusses strategies to see off the threat posed by
Prozac.

The document outlined how GSK intended to market Seroxat for a range
of conditions other than clinical depression. Chief among these was a
condition the company identified as social anxiety disorder, although
other forms of anxiety were also discussed internally.