Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). Your first question comes from the line of Rich Silver of Lehman Brothers.
Rich Silver
Lexapro and market share expectations in the past, I think you have said that you had hoped to gain modest market share overtime. Now that there is no longer any real brand competition other than Cymbalta, can you comment on what your expectation is in the coming year for the market share on Lexapro?
Larry Olanoff
Thank you, Rich. We're not giving guidance on the current year yet, we're standing by what we stated for the current, for this fiscal year in terms of what our expectations are with the product, overall, but we're not yet giving guidance, we'll provide that in our April call.
Rich Silver
And can you maybe at least comment on recent historicals and why you think that the market share of Lexapro continues to decline even without or with less brand competition than you've had in the past?
Larry Olanoff
We've not seen any substantial decline in the market share; it's pretty much been flat. So, we're not really not speaking to that as an issue here, but the market growth continues, it's a little higher than what we had predicted for this year, we've stated that in the earnings release. I think the key in terms of the market dynamics is, this market hasn't changed over this past year, Cymbalta has shown some growth, it's starting to modulate or plateau, and this is still a market that is also heavily influenced by these generic products and we'll continue it to be so, so that our dynamics and our parameter is really operating between the branded products which includes Cymbalta intersection, we've done that I think fairly well over the time and continuing to do with managed care on the use of generic SSRI's.
Rich Silver
Second question, can you talk about -- as you are preparing for the launch on Milnacipran, kind of intelligence that you've been gathering with Lyrica now actually out there being promoted for fibromyalgia. What you're learning from maybe that experience and how that might help you on Milnacipran?
Larry Olanoff
It's also a good question. I think what we've learned thus far is that the market is receptive to the use of approved agents in this treatment of the disease, they are embracing that opportunity. We know that Forest has been very active in terms of direct-to-consumer advertising. What we hear from our experts is that, there is room for multiple agents in this market, with multiple mechanisms of action. There will be a lot of poly-pharmacy anticipated; there will be a lot of switching anticipated. I think Pregabalin is establishing its profile in the market, both upsides and downsides, and it will be an agent which will be looked towards as potential use in combination with products that can also treat changes in mood state, changes in fatigue, other parameters in addition to pain, which are important in the treatment of this disease.
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