Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK)

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  • commenter
    User 172200
    Apr 03 07:15 AM
    Merck, Schering-Plough: Confessions of a Vytorin Patient [view article]
    I have been on Zoccor alone 17 years with my LDH reduced to about 100 ( many lab tests etc) I switched to Vytorin about 2.5 years ago .... My LDH dropped from 100+ to 60.( I wanted to lower my LDH WITHOUT increasing statin dose for fear of liver or muscle complication) I am not going back to Zoccor . A mountain of medical research tells me, in effect, to lower the LDH as much as possible. Inference in article in Circulation, that it does not take high doses of statin to obtain anti inflammatory effects ( Circulation: 117:379-387.) Reply
  • commenter
    WaveNet
    Apr 03 01:11 AM
    Experts Weigh in on ENHANCE Published Results [view article]
    A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

    After taking Mevacor and Tricor for 20+ years without success in lowering my Cholesterol I was switched to Vytorin which produced the best results ever, including amazingly low LDL.

    When my new health insurance denied Vytorin and recommended Zocor instead I pointed out to them the need to combine Zetia with Zocor to produce the same effect.They agreed.

    Now the Economics : 90 days of supply between the two alternatives compares as follows: VYTORIN ( $245) vs ZOCOR + ZETIA ( $393+$240). When the insurance discovered that nothing was as cost-effective as Vytorin for my treatment needs, they have re-instated coverage in a hurry and presented an apology.

    In conclusion, for those patients who are in my situation and need the two components, nothing beats Vytorin in convenience and economics.

    The death of Vytorin and the hit on SGP has been grossly exaggerated.Does anyone believe that those who are on it already will switch out to others ?

    If we assume a no growth scenario and a preservation of the existing patient population, SGP could jump at least 50% from its currently depressed valuation. If they hire smarter people to run the company and their marketing effort, the upside is even larger. I see $24 by YE as a reasonable target.

     Reply
  • commenter
    User 148301
    Apr 02 05:26 PM
    Merck and Schering-Plough Make the Bad News About Vytorin Even Worse [view article]
    I have taken MANY stains for years, and NONE HAVE WORKED (including Zocor). Vytorin immediately lowered my bad and raised my good levels.

    I have a basic question I have not seen addressed -- did the existing statins on the market today have to prove that they got rid of the plaque? If not, then this is a screw job to Vytorin patients, SGP and MRK investors!

    Please, someone direct me to work that shows the drugs these Dr's are suggesting I switch to show statistical evidence thath THEY get rid of that plaque.

    Color me confused!!!     Reply
  • commenter
    Lissa Tucker
    Apr 02 05:10 PM
    Ten Companies Involved in Treating Asthma [view article]
    SNY has been a steady investment over the years....(apple of my eye).
    Doubters -- Look to their pipeline (phase 2 and 3 trials, respectfully).
    SNY's growth model is crystal clear, and while I am unsure of the company's asthma treatment med involvement, overall, it does offer an expansive suite of innovative
    (and timely) global pharma products.     Reply
  • commenter
    TonyC-SA
    Apr 02 04:00 PM
    Merck and Schering-Plough Make the Bad News About Vytorin Even Worse [view article]
    As a statistician, I would take this result, along with the results of Dr. Krumholz on hormone therapy, as clear and convincing evidence that the correlation between higher LDL and atherosclerosis does NOT imply causation!

    To go further than the author, I would suspect the lowering of LDL by statins is a result of effect on some underlying and unidentified factor in atherosclerosis while the higher LDL itself is just an indicator of this underlying factor. If true, reducing LDL means nothing and the standard wisdom that high LDL causes atherosclerosis is simply false. Mask the indicator all you want, it doesn't address the root cause. And to whatever extent statins DO address the root cause, they incidentally cause a reduction in the LDL that indicates the severity of that root cause. Stop chasing the shadow of the problem and figure out what is casting the shadow.     Reply
  • commenter
    User Insider
    Apr 02 02:36 PM
    Schering-Plough: As Cheap an Entry Point as You'll Find [view article]
    To those of you who are unsure about SGP...you should be following the Vytorin Debacle, however the doctor above leaves out a few major details concerning SGP. For one, SGP has another billion dollar drug, Nasonex, which is patent protected until 2017. There are someother drugs in the primary care market that do well, but without the volume of Nasonex or Vytorin. The pipeline for SGP is what really looks promising...Organon products, asthma combo that will overtake advair, and several others. Problem is that most of these are 1-2 yrs away. I still think this stock is cheap...this will settle down in a few months, but Vytorin/Zetia will never be the same. Reply
  • commenter
    clitosil
    Apr 02 01:03 PM
    Merck and Schering-Plough Make the Bad News About Vytorin Even Worse [view article]
    How do we know this isn't just some cynical market manipulation ploy, to allow big money to get into these companies at a bargain price? Reply
  • commenter
    misinformed
    media
    Apr 02 12:22 PM
    Vytorin Battle Pits Merck and SGP against Pfizer [view article]
    These doctors are way out of control. Vytorin is a drug that lowers cholesterol better than Lipitor and Crestor. That is a fact.

    The Enhance study was done on a small number of patients with very high cholesterol, over 300. You cannot reduce plaque build up until you get the ldl down to below 100.

    Crestor recently stopped a study where it did notice a small amount of plaque regression. That study was done on patients with ldl of 170 and after high doses it came down by over 50% or about 80, below the 100 mark. Crestor is very potent, but is very toxic and many patients cannot handle it. Vytorin is much more tolerable. This is also something the Cardiac Panel did not address. Lipitor is the same as Crestor. Also, Zocor, which is part of Vytorin, is the same as Lipitor and Crestor. Zocor alone had no effect on the study group. Could it be the plaque build up in this group is just too stubborn, probably.

    I think the doctors are way off base totally dismissing the fact that LDL is not the issue and the only issue is plaque regression. LDL is very important to a patients cardiac health.

    I think the panel of cardiologists had an agenda which is why they did not even want to discuss Enhance in an open forum.

    The media has to get together, get informed and stop shooting from the hip.
    Reply
  • commenter
    Tony D.
    Apr 02 11:38 AM
    Merck, Schering-Plough: More Nails in Vytorin’s Coffin [view article]
    I agree with the above comments. Both my wife and I take Vytorin with excellent results. Merck is being unfairly attacked in the media. Why are so many people intent on dragging down this great company whose pioneering efforts have brought so many life-saving medicines and vaccines to market? Let's get all of the facts. God forbid that this latest "episode" will only serve to encourage more lawsuits. Merck has always been a leader in its field and needs more support in order to pursue its attempts to defeat such scourges as heart disease, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases. Generic companies are always quick to pounce upon the opportunity to profit from the research efforts of companies like Merck while investing zero in research of their own. Reply
  • commenter
    CRYSBALL
    Apr 02 10:35 AM
    My Website
    Schering-Plough: As Cheap an Entry Point as You'll Find [view article]
    The 'DEAD CAT BOUNCE' after the decline Monday will be short lived as the CEO remains in 'DENIAL' and plans to continue to PROMOTE the products which have tarnished their image..........he claims his prior experince with the PHARMACIA resue prepares him for the Vytorin /Xetia debacle.............LO... Reply
  • commenter
    Coyote
    Apr 02 08:47 AM
    Merck and Schering-Plough Make the Bad News About Vytorin Even Worse [view article]
    Throwing the baby out with the bathwater would be an understatement of the unadulterated stupidity of this article's commentary and the subsequent lynch mob formed for Mrk. I'm wondering if this assualt has anything to do with MRK's aquisition of Sirna Theraputics and the class action efforts on behalf of the companies that saw the future of modern medicine evade their grasp. These antics seem to attempt to establish a "precedent of mood" towards Mrk which will be helpful in prying Rnai inhibition from its future at Mrk. Reply
  • commenter
    technicolor1
    935
    Apr 02 04:35 AM
    Merck, Schering-Plough: More Nails in Vytorin’s Coffin [view article]
    Objectively, you have to ask yourself, why all the Cardiologist hoopla about Vytorin not reducing corroded artery plaque in pre selected genetically compromised patients when such was never an espoused claim of the Rx, nor that or any competitor? Furthermore, Vytorin's goal of reducing LDL-C was met, and better than that of any competitor, but such is being totally ignored as having no physiological or medical event importance whatsoever. True, Merck & Schering may have wanted to obtain plaque reduction as a yardstick indicator objective, but such was, at worst, misplaced hubris, not misdirection or fraud.

    In the 23rd of March 2006 issue of NEJM, Dr J.Cohen and colleagues of the Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, published their findings on individuals with the PSCK9 genetic variant. The PSCK9 genetic variants seem to confer lower LDL-cholesterol levels.

    Their study is part of the longitudinal "Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities" or ARIC study. They studied 12,887 subjects (black and white) with the PSCK9 genetic variant. There were 2.6% blacks and 3.2% of whites who had a mutation of the PSCK9 gene. The 2.6% of blacks had 28% lower baseline LDL-C when compared to those blacks without the mutation. As for the whites, 3.2% of them had the gene mutation and their LDL-Cholesterol levels were 15% lower.

    However, after 15 years, this 28% lower LDL-C in the blacks, translated to a 89% CAD reduction. In the whites, the 15% LDL-C reduction translated to a 47% reduction. Long term (15 yrs) LDL-c lowering may have greater benefit than short term (5 yrs). Perhaps someone taking a moderate LDL-C lowering agent, when taken over 10-15 years, may have the same, if not better CAD reduction when compared to high dose superstatins with their risk of side-effects, and, as a result, significant CAD reduction due to lower LDL-C levels. Hence, the efficacy of Vytorin.     Reply
  • commenter
    coopster
    Apr 01 11:55 PM
    Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [view article]
    Regarding the FedReserve making regulatory changes; I don't like a PRIVATE entity running things. The Fed is neither a public entity nor is it a "federal" (read that National these days!) agency. I guess Alexander Hamilton won the constitution debate, after all. Reply
  • commenter
    jreacher
    Apr 01 11:29 PM
    Merck and Schering-Plough Make the Bad News About Vytorin Even Worse [view article]
    As a Pharmacist, I see so much wrong with 1) the study, and 2) with how the drug company management handled it on Monday. The article in the Wall Street Journal has the management saying, "...oh well, back to the drawing board..." when it seems real clear to me that the drug does what they said it does. The companies should have defended the drug. The WSJ article mentioned that only one "panelist" gave the presentation, and it was not what was expected. The whole thing sounds fishy to me. Zetia works. It FURTHER lowers cholesterol in the blood. The study smells from here. But, hey...if people want to stop taking it and INCREASE blood levels of cholesterol---that's up to them. Something is not right here. Reply
  • commenter
    Rong
    Apr 01 10:58 PM
    My Website
    Best and Worst Dow, S&P 500 Performers YTD [view article]
    I have never boutht much from Wall-Mart but did buy WMT and made some money. Is that not what this is all about? Reply

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