Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

MRK’s Tredaptive fails phase-3 outcomes study in cardiovascular disease; this is a continuation of negative outcomes for niacin therapy dating back to the AIM-HIGH study of ABT’s Niaspan (#msg-63617748):

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/merck-announces-hps2-thrive-study-133000558.html

…adding the combination of extended-release niacin and laropiprant to statin therapy did not significantly further reduce the risk of the combination of coronary deaths, non-fatal heart attacks, strokes or revascularizations compared to statin therapy. In addition, there was a statistically significant increase in the incidence of some types of non-fatal serious adverse events in the group that received extended-release niacin/laropiprant.

Ouch. MRK has dropped plans to seek approval for Tredaptive in the US; in countries where the drug is already approved, sales will presumably plummet.