ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996                TAG: 9604040058
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-6  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: STEVE SAKSON ASSOCIATED PRESS

BALDNESS DRUG ABOUT TO BE SOLD OVER-THE-COUNTER

It grows hair for only about one in four people and it'll cost you $180 and six months to find out if you're among the lucky.

Nonetheless, the 60 million Americans who suffer hair loss can now buy Rogaine - the first medically proven baldness drug - without a prescription.

Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc. on Wednesday began shipping the over-the-counter version of Rogaine in blue and pink boxes with separate instructions for men and women.

Hair-impaired consumers should start seeing it in the shampoo sections of pharmacies, supermarkets and department stores in a few days, with a heavy advertising campaign to follow.

After eight years of prescription sales, the Food and Drug Administration in February approved nonprescription use of Rogaine at the same potency as prescription. The drug thus became the latest high-profile prescription-to-OTC switch as drug companies capitalize on an increasing desire of Americans to medicate themselves. It follows such recent successes as Pepcid AC and Tagamet HB for heartburn.

Rogaine racked up a respectable $124 million in sales during 1995, but sales have stagnated in recent years, which analysts blame on its high failure rate.

While Pharmacia & Upjohn says tests claim up to 26 percent of users see moderate to heavy hair growth after four months, analyst James Keeney of the securities firm Rodman & Renshaw said the real number is closer to 10 percent.

Pharmacia & Upjohn is counting on America's vanity to increase total annual revenue from the drug - even though the price of one bottle, a one-month supply, has been cut to about $30 from $55.

Although prescription Rogaine's patent ran out in February, the switch to OTC status gives the company three more years of exclusive sales before generic copies are allowed.

Rogaine works well only with people in the early stages of hair loss, and the loss must be caused by hereditary factors, not diseases or mistreatment.

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