Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb lose patent protection on Zocor and Pravachol next year, removing any incentive.
At its analyst meeting tomorrow, Merck will get a chance to convince the doubters.
But the payoff could be lucrative for Merck or whichever drugmaker leads the way.
Drug giants such as Pfizer and Merck actually may be reticent to test their drugs in cancer.
Early on Merck ambitiously pursued an antiviral cocktail containing four vaccines: two against cancer, two against genital warts.
But Merck is doing that big Vytorin versus Zocor study, a giant clinical trial called IMPROVE-IT.
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Vertex appears to be ahead of competitors like Merck, who are testing similar drugs.
Merck says a long-awaited arthritis drug, Arcoxia, will be filed with the Food and Drug Administration.
One exception is a dual cancer drug trial that Merck and AstraZeneca announced last year.
Arthur Caplan, the University of Pennsylvania bioethicist, says Merck had the right to cancel the study.
Merck has said it hopes to avoid a mega-settlement by fighting every case out at trial.
Merck itself has acknowledged that long-term exposure to Vioxx can pose a cardiovascular risk.
Pharmaceuticals are a perfect example, typified by Merck, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers.
Merck today withdrew its application with the Food and Drug Administration for Arcoxia, its next-generation painkiller.
"We're very confident in the safety and efficacy of Arcoxia, " says Merck spokeswoman Christine Fanelle.
Bristol-Myers pulls in 61.0% of North American sales, while the German Merck grabs 90.0% elsewhere.
Yes, Merck or Pfizer has honestly earned the government-issue, fixed-term monopoly that we call a patent.
Until this month "there was a solid wall of denial" from Merck, he says.
Some analysts have estimated Merck's potential liability in the tens of billions of dollars.
Either Merck will manage to emerge relatively unscathed, or it will find itself crippled.
The reality may be that Merck's legal defense will either work or it won't.
Nor is Merck's Arcoxia, which has been delayed for years, out of the woods.
Over the next six months, Merck could face a steady drumbeat of negative coverage.
The Merck effort against ras was the subject of front-page stories years ago before it fizzled.
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Merck isn't going to sit down and let a biotech walk off with the osteoporosis market.
The negative result is likely to result in further scrutiny of Merck and Schering.
For the time being, most industry watchers handicap Merck as having a slight advantage.
This, of course, coincides with his tenure not only at Merck, but also Becton-Dickinson.
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Aberdare was one of the top 3, along with Qualcomm, and Merck.
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