ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 8, 1997 TAG: 9702100085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
Barr Laboratories Inc. says it is getting mixed signals from Virginia.
Last year, Gov. George Allen provided more than $1 million in incentives to lure the New York-based pharmaceutical company to Bedford County.
This week, the House of Delegates approved a bill that Barr Laboratories executives say would discourage sales of a generic drug the company plans to manufacture in Bedford County.
"It would be ironic indeed if this legislation were to pass," said Bruce Downing, chairman of Barr Laboratories, based in Pomona, N.Y.
The bill pits Barr Laboratories against pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. over the $500million annual market for blood thinners, which are taken by thousands of people who have had strokes, heart attacks or bypass operations.
Merck holds the patent for a drug sold under the brand name Coumadin. Barr will challenge Merck's monopoly when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves a generic version of the drug.
The Virginia bill would require pharmacists to double-check with physicians when filling prescriptions for the blood thinners and several other drugs requiring extremely precise doses - carbamazephine (for epilepsy), digoxin (a heart stimulant), levothyroxine (for thyroid deficiencies), phenytoin (an anti-convulsant), and theophylline sustained release (a smooth muscle relaxant).
A lobbyist for Merck says the bill is a "patient safety" measure aimed at protecting patients from toxic reactions.
But opponents say the bill amounts to nothing more than "raw protectionism" aimed at preserving Merck's virtual monopoly.
"The governor's office does all it can to bring Barr Laboratories to Bedford, telling them that `Virginia is Open for Business.' But as soon as they start construction - boom - they get hit with an anti-competitive bill like this one," said Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, whose district includes the Forest community where Barr is investing $33million in a plant and distribution center.
In January 1996, Allen flew to Bedford County to trumpet Barr's decision to convert a shuttered fiber-optics plant into a pharmaceutical manufacturing center.
"Barr Lab's decision is just what the doctor ordered," Allen said.
Friday, Allen acknowledged that the Merck bill could send a mixed signal to the business community.
The Republican chief executive acknowledged that he is caught between a recent industrial recruit and two of the state's largest companies. Merck has a major pharmaceutical plant near Elkton in Rockingham County; its partner, DuPont Corp., employs hundreds of people in plants across Virginia.
He joked that all he needed was pressure from other pharmaceutical companies in Virginia.
"It's enough of a difficult situation now," he said during a brief interview.
This week, Putney came within one vote of killing the bill on the House floor. But he managed to delay the implementation date until July 1, 1998.
The House approved the amended bill, 66-33.
It now goes to a Senate committee.
The lobbying behind the measure intensified this week. Barr Laboratories registered three more lobbyists. The Merck-DuPont team is headed by former Attorney General Anthony Troy.
The bill's sponsor, Del. Jay DeBoer, D-Petersburg, said politics is endangering what he called a simple layer of protection for people taking maintenance drugs in which even a small mistake can prove toxic, if not fatal.
"Too much of this stuff, and you start hemorrhaging from every orifice," DeBoer said, noting that the main ingredient in blood thinners is also used in rat poison. "It's not a pretty sight."
"All this bill says is that pharmacists should double-check with physicians," Troy said. "What Barr is really saying is they don't like patient safety because they are intent on grabbing market share.
"They want market share today - damn the torpedoes, damn public safety."
Matthew Jenkins, a Richmond-based lobbyist hired by Barr, called the safety issues a ruse for Merck's desire to keep generic drugs out of its lucrative blood-thinner market.
Jenkins said that patients will be protected by FDA oversight and a Virginia panel of experts that reviews new drugs. He also noted that the Virginia Voluntary Formulary Board - made up of physicians and pharmacists - voted Thursday to recommend against the legislation.
"This bill is tying up competition; that's all this is," Jenkins said.
HOW THEY VOTED!
On a bill that requires pharmacists to double-check with physicians when filling prescriptions for generic blood-thinning pills and several other drugs. Merck & Co. wants the bill; Barr Laboratories says the bill would discourage sales of its products. The bill passed the House 66-33 with one abstention and now goes to the Senate.
Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County - Abstained
Tommy Baker, R-Pulaski County - Yes
Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton - Yes
Barnie Day, D-Patrick County - Yes
Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs - Yes
Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount - No
Morgan Griffith, R-Salem - No
Tom Jackson, D-Hillsville - Yes
Lacey Putney, I-Bedford - No
Jim Shuler, D-Blacksburg - Yes
Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke - Yes
Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke - Yes
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB