Steve, I guess that's the error of the "major New York healthcare investor", Scolnick said "I have no reluctance to do [head-to-head] trials having seen their data." Even if they want to do it, they'll have to wait until Celebrex is approved by the FDA.
Anther point of interest is the size of the clinical trials. My understanding from past news articles: 13,000 patients for Celebrex, 9000 for Vioxx. From the article:
<But Scolnick emphasized that Merck has extensive data documenting its drug's effectiveness in treating pain in different populations, while Celebrex has more limited data.
And in one major trial of Vioxx, the drug's safety profile showed statistical equivalence to placebo, Scolnick said. Monsanto, which did fewer and smaller trials in fewer patient populations than Merck, has shown only that there is no statistical difference between Celebrex and a placebo.>
Anthony
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