The newest prescription data shows Pfizer’s smoking-cessation treatment gaining traction. New scrips written for the week ending Feb. 23 rose 10.7 percent and total scrips gained 10.9 percent, according to a research note issued today by industry analyst David Risinger at Merrill Lynch, who cites IMS Health.

Among cholesterol pills, new scrips written for AstraZeneca’s Crestor jumped 38 percent, and 37 percent on a rolling four-week basis. But Pfizer’s Lipitor is sinking: year-over-year new scrips dropped 11.7 percent and, on a four-week rolling basis, new scrips dived 13.9 percent.

New scrips written for Eli Lilly’s Zyprexa schizophrenia pill were flat recently, but down 7.5 percent year over year. On a four-week rolling basis, new scrips were down 10 percent. The bad publicity over the past three months may have had something to do with that.

Other weekly trends: Merck’s Januvia diabetes pill continues to gain share, Apotex’s generic Plavix bloodthinner lost ground, and Pfizer’s Exubera insulin inhaler made a wee bit of progress, despite some nasty publicity comparing the device to a bong.

[tags]Chantix, Crestor, Exubera, Januvia, Lipitor, Plavix, Zyprexa[/tags]