Posted on 03/31/2008 1:16:40 PM PDT by BenLurkin
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. fell to record lows Monday, as analysts warned new clinical data would cause sales of their blockbuster cholesterol drug Vytorin to fall further.
The companies market Vytorin through a joint venture, but earlier this year, partial results from a clinical study showed that it was no more effective at limiting plaque buildup than Merck's Zocor, a drug that is already available in generic form. Full results of that study were released Sunday.
Vytorin is a combination of Zocor and Schering-Plough's drug Zetia.
Schering-Plough shares plunged as low as $14, touching their lowest levels since August 1996. Merck shares fell as low as $36.82, their lowest since June 2006.
Leading physicians are now recommending the use of older drugs called statins before putting patients on Vytorin. Many physicians had prescribed Vytorin in lieu of higher doses of statins because of what some said was an undue fear of side effects.
"There was an irrationality to begin with," said Dr. John LaRosa, president of State University of New York Downstate Medical Center.
One ultimate result of the outcome could be a tightening of regulatory standards at the FDA when it comes to approving cholesterol drugs, LaRosa said.
Federal and New York State officials have been investigating why results of the study were not released for nearly two years after the study ended. The company has also been chided for its aggressive marketing of the drug in that interim period.
According to TNS Media Intelligence, which tracks advertising spending, the company spent about $472.8 million on advertising since the drug hit the market.
Wall Street, meanwhile, expects prescriptions of Vytorin to decline further in the wake of a recommendation to use the drug only after initial therapy with older drugs like Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor and AstraZeneca PLC's Crestor.
Lehman Brothers analyst Charles Butler downgraded Schering-Plough shares on the news, and cut his price target on the stock by more than 40 percent.
He said prescriptions of Vytorin will keep falling, and because Schering-Plough relies heavily on the joint venture, he slashed his profit estimates over the next five years.
Besides the Vytorin news, Merck also halted enrollment in a study for the cholesterol drug Cordaptive, which uses the same ultrasound measurement from the now-failed Vytorin study.
In a separate statement, the company said high doses of the experimental obesity treatment taranabant are being cut out of a late-stage study because of higher rates of gastrointestinal side effects, depression and anxiety. The high doses were no more effective than low doses, the company said.
AP Business Writer Marley Seaman in New York contributed to this repo
Despite what the multi national drug company propganda tells you 95% of all cholesterol problems are based on dietary issues like high fat, high carb, no fiber diets. Just like all the problem with GERD and Type II diabetes... Keepum fat and drugged up guys! Goto your local mega mart and their highest profit area is the pharmacy. There is always a queue consisting of folks in their 40-60’s filing maintenance poisions like Procor. Besides the Mom picking up an antibiotic for Jr’s ear infection or limp noodle grandpa and his Viagra those lines usually consist of the morbidly obese or smokers. But wihtout those maintenance meds the drug companies would be out of business with all the lawsuits and providing drugs for folks with rare cancers. I lost 70lbs my cholesterol dropped 50 points to 190, blood pressure normal, resting pulse 55. Amazing huh and before I was a lazy fat as* Dr. Patel my HMO doctor was mouth breathing to write me outta script for Vitorin, ...man whatta scam. Stop stuffing your face with Big Mac’s fatty and get off the couch and do some real excercise and watch the magic happen. That way you won’t become a one of those moron Obamaites at a rally in your electric scooters whining about healthcare as you shovel Mrs Fields into your 312lb pie hole.
Or should it be the FDA?
This is starting to get confusing.
Don’t know about anybody else but I’m calling the waaaambulance....
But does this mean more of those cool Vytorin ads, or fewer?
Whereas you are absolutely correct that for a high percentage of people altered diet and exercise can normalize their high lipids, diabetes, and hypertension, the problem is that people just don’t seem to be able to lose the weight. Drugs for type II diabetes and it’s complications cost people billions of dollars each year, but the average weight of Americans (and people from several other countries) is going up, not down. The pharmaceutical industry did not make these people overweight. The drug companies are fulfilling a need that would markedly decrease if more people did what you did. Congratulations, by the way. You probably extended your life significantly, and I’ll be you feel a lot better. You deserve a lot of credit.
Always buy generic drugs when available. Just because some drug is new, doesn’t mean it’s better. Yhey are often not as good.
I take a blood pressure medication that’s been around for decades. It’s $4/month.
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