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FDA OKs marketing of Singulair

Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003 | 11:01 a.m.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. -- Merck & Co. won U.S. approval to market its Singulair asthma drug as a treatment for allergies, a new market that the company said may help sales of the medicine top $2 billion this year.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the new use of Singulair late Tuesday, said Chris Loder, a Merck spokesman. Merck shares rose $1.69, or 3 percent, to $58.30 as of 10:18 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading today.

As many as 35 million people in the U.S. may have allergic reactions that cause inflammation in membranes inside the nose, a condition called rhinitis, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Merck is the second-biggest U.S. drugmaker after Pfizer Inc. Sales of Singulair were $350 million in the third quarter.

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