Warner-Lambert is the world's ninth-largest pharmaceutical group, thanks largely to its anti-cholesterol drug, Lipitor.

Based in Morris Plains, New Jersey, Warner-Lambert holds 42 per cent of the US market for anti-cholesterol prescriptions. Even before yesterday's merger announcement, Pfizer was linked to WarnerLambert in a deal to market Lipitor.

Global sales of Lipitor came to $3.7 billion last year, an increase of 71 per cent compared with 1998. Total Warner-Lambert sales in 1999 were $12.928 billion. The group posted net earnings of $1.733 billion in 1999, up 36.1 per cent on 1998.

Besides Lipitor, its principal products are several chewing-gum brands, including Trident, Dentyne and Chiclets. It also manufactures Listerine mouthwash, the anti-histamine Benadryl, the anti-convulsion medication Dilantin, and Cognex, a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. In addition, the group, which employs 43,000 people, makes Schick and Wilkinson razors.