HEALTH CARE
<i> Times Staff and Wire Reports</i>
Osteoporosis Drug Expected to Win FDA Panel’s OK: Fosamax, developed by Merck & Co., is widely expected to win a recommendation for approval today from a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee. Analysts are optimistic that the FDA will approve the drug by the end of this year. Osteoporosis, a disease causing loss of bone density, affects as many as half of all women older than 50. Richard Vietor, an analyst for Merrill Lynch, estimates that Fosamax will eventually have peak sales of $2.5 billion to $3 billion.
