Once members of Philips's new money-purchase pension plan turn 50, their trustees switch their funds gradually into a combination of cash and derivatives.
That leads to another potential upside for Merck: It could switch patients from Zocor to a Zocor-Zetia combination pill before Zocor loses patent protection in 2006.
Therefore healthcare professionals should switch patients who are on Tekturna or any aliskiren-based products, in combination with an ACE or an ARB, to an alternative anti-hypertension regimen.