Fourth Quarter Conference Calls, In Brief

Lipitor in perspective: With $6.45 bil. in annual sales in 2001, Pfizer's Lipitor generates more revenues than the annual Gross Domestic Product of 78 countries, based on calculations of purchasing power parity by the Central Intelligence Agency. If Lipitor meets growth expectations in 2002, it should surpass the GDP of Tajikistan ($7.3 bil.)....Zocor heart protection study: Merck will present data on the effect of Zocor (simvastatin) in the 20,000-patient Heart Protection Study at the American College of Cardiology meeting in March. Preliminary results show that Zocor "reduced the risk of heart attacks and stroke by at least one-third," company says. A filing based on the data is planned for this year...