"Several years ago, Merck researchers discovered a new cholesterol-lowering medicine. But the company decided not to develop it because it worked just like Zocor, its big-selling cholesterol pill.
The decision demonstrates the distinctive strategy of Raymond V. Gilmartin, Merck's chief executive and chairman. Mr. Gilmartin has insisted for years that Merck must focus on breakthrough research and avoid much of the rest of the industry's increasing reliance on me-too drugs that provide little clinical benefit over medicines already being marketed. He also continues to refuse to consider merging with a rival.
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"The experience and track record we've had in terms of pursuing novelty has been quite good," Mr. Gilmartin said in an interview yesterday. "Drugs in Phase 3 sometimes drop out,'' he said, referring to the last stage of human testing. "That's why you do the trials."
The risks of Merck's strategy have been on stark display this year. On Thursday evening, Merck announced that it had halted tests of a promising diabetes pill - the fourth such disappointment this year. The company's pipeline is now among the thinnest in the drug industry. Pfizer, meanwhile, has merged with rivals and used its marketing muscle to drive sales of drugs that often have few benefits over those already on the market. Pfizer's share price is trading at about 20 times per-share earnings, compared with 13 for Merck.
Yesterday, Merck's share price fell $2.95, or 6.5 percent, to $42.21. Pfizer's shares fell 47 cents, to $33.18.
Merck said that it stopped testing MK-767, a diabetes drug that analysts had hoped would become a big seller, because it caused a rare form of malignant tumors in mice. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had abandoned tests of aprepitant, also known as Substance P, for depression. Merck has been working on aprepitant for more than a decade and stuck with the program even after early tests in humans showed that it worked no better than placebos.
But depression trials are notoriously tricky in part because placebos, which are inert, often prove surprisingly effective. Even well-established drugs like Prozac fail to show an improvement over placebos in nearly half of all tests. So Merck stubbornly pressed ahead with the program, making the search for psychoactive drugs a central part of its research effort.
Earlier in the year, Merck dropped an anxiety drug and then an asthma drug amid large clinical trials.
Merck and other drug companies have talked in recent years about how they are using cutting-edge technology to weed out failures early. Late-stage failures like those plaguing Merck lead to multimillion-dollar write-offs because large clinical trials are hugely expensive.
Merck's recent track record also demonstrates how much more challenging medical research has become. In 1996, the drug industry introduced 53 drugs. Last year, it introduced just 17."
-- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/
One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs. -- Robert Firth
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