Merck halts work on new painkiller
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Merck & Co. stopped development of an experimental pill for chronic pain, the latest setback in its bid to replace the recalled painkiller Vioxx.
The drug, MK-6721, “does not demonstrate the ideal pharmaceutical characteristics considered necessary to advance the compound further in development,” Merck’s partner on the pill, closely held Neuromed Pharmaceuticals, said in a statement.
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck declined to comment.
The company is trying to recoup some of the $2.5 billion in annual revenue lost after Vioxx was linked to heart attacks and strokes, forcing its 2004 withdrawal from the market.
In April, U.S. regulators rejected Merck’s painkiller Arcoxia, saying it had risks similar to those of Vioxx.
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