'Merck Heart Drug Runs Into New Worry'

General Discussion Media & Awareness
#1

Forbes is reporting that:

"Anacetrapib, an experimental drug to prevent heart attacks and strokes, is potentially one of the biggest medicines in development at Merck. But Wall Street analysts are skeptical it will ever reach the market thanks to the failures of similar pills from Pfizer and Roche. And now new data give investors yet another reason to doubt the medication.

“The problem is this: after you take it, anacetrapib appears to stick around for years, according to new results made available online on October 4 by the American Journal of Cardiology. In the new analysis of one of Merck’s studies of the drug, anacetrapib blood levels three months after patients stopped taking the drug were 40% of what they were when they took the pill daily. And for 30 patients who were followed for longer, the drug was still detectable in the blood as much as four years later.”

Note the phrase “The problem is this: after you take it, anacetrapib appears to stick around for years.”

Sound familiar?

The full story here:

forbes.com/sites/matthewherp … new-worry/

#2

Note this user comment that was called out:

Bernard Munos, Contributor 5 hours ago

This is another worry Lilly did not need. Imagine a patient starting on the drug and experiencing a problematic side-effect, which is almost certain to happen. That patient could be stuck with his reaction for weeks (months? years?) until the drug clears. Not good. It is likely to attract heightened regulatory scrutiny, especially given the existence of safe alternatives (statins, and perhaps pcsk9 inhibitors). Even if the drug makes it to market, I would expect physicians and patients to be extra careful, which means reduced market potential. Lilly needs to disclose evacetrapib’s pharmacokinetic data to allay investors’ concerns. Otherwise, no news will be seen as bad news. It might also reassess the wisdom of sticking with a compound that may not be the breakthrough it was once thought to be, and is likely to face an uphill road to stardom.

#3

Fierce Biotech now picking up on the anacetrapib story:

fiercebiotech.com/story/trou … 2013-10-24

Note the passage about an…

“American Journal of Cardiology…study which demonstrated that the drug has a remarkable ability to linger in the system long after patients stop taking it. Three months after they stopped taking the drug daily, anacetrapib was found at a level of 40%. In 30 patients, the drug was detectable four years after they stopped taking the cholesterol medicine.”

Good to see the scientific community getting wise to the dangers of Merck drugs BEFORE customers start dropping dead.