Zyprexa

An AstraZeneca spokesperson questioned the study's methodology, saying the profit estimate for Seroquel, a schizophrenia medication, was too high.

AstraZeneca gave no alternative figures.

A GlaxoSmithKline spokesperson wouldn't discuss projected earnings for Lamictal, a treatment for bipolar disorder.

A spokesperson for Lilly said the company expected only a "modest short-term benefit to sales" for sales of $2.04 billion in 2005.

Lilly's earnings per share could rise by 6 percent in 2006 just by escaping the rebates, the Prudential study estimates.

With U.S.

sales of $2.76 billion in 2005, Seroquel's increased Medicare profit could boost AstraZeneca's earnings per share by 8 percent, the report found.

Company policy prohibits Prudential analysts from discussing reports with nonclients, said company spokesman Jim Gorman.

Tony Butler, managing director and pharmaceutical analyst at Lehman Bros., an investment bank in New York, agreed with the report that Medicare would probably have higher drug prices than Medicaid.

Butler estimated the sales windfall for drug companies under Medicare to be $1.8 billion ...

Read more...