Drug Companies Settle Vytorin Case for $41.5 Million
The Associated Press reports:TRENTON, N.J. – Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. said Wednesday they will pay $41.5 million to settle lawsuits claiming the drugmakers, partners on two blockbuster cholesterol drugs, delayed unfavorable study results because they would hurt sales.
Shares of both companies initially rose after the news, then fell with the broader market.
In January 2008, the companies released long-awaited study data showing Vytorin and Zetia were no more effective than an older, less-expensive cholesterol treatment at reducing plaque buildup in arteries of people whose genes gave them stratospheric cholesterol.
Instead, the study showed $100-a-month Vytorin, which combines Zocor and Zetia, was perhaps a bit worse than Zocor alone, which is sold as a generic for a third as much. The study also cast doubt on whether Zetia, which works by a different mechanism, has much effect on cholesterol levels, and subsequent data have raised questions about their safety.
The companies finished the study, called ENHANCE, in 2006. Merck and Schering-Plough were criticized for not releasing the data earlier, and didn't do so until Congress began investigating the delay.
But don't start feeling too sorry for the pharmaceutical companies. They are still money ahead; billions, in fact.
In 2007, sales of the two drugs brought in $5.2 billion. The revenues dropped to $4.6 billion in 2008. That's nearly $10 billion after the report was issued.
A tidy profit for a couple of drugs that are not as effective as the one they replaced and potentially dangerous.
The settlement is a joke.
posted by nattietodd @ 8:54 AM
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