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Biotech / Medical : Biotech Valuation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rkrw who wrote (13217)	9/30/2004 9:20:09 AM
From: Biomaven	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 52153

Well there was an interesting comment I heard a few weeks ago from a researcher specializing in the side effects of RA drugs - "I wouldn't give Vioxx to my dog." He thought the new Novartis drug might be the best of breed from a cardiac standpoint, although my understanding is the FDA has concerns about liver tox issues. I'm pretty impressed by MRK's actions here - not many companies would have done what they are doing. It's a devastating blow to them, and it's going to hurt all the pharmas - going to make people look skeptically at all the cox-2 drugs. Actually calls into question as to whether MRK can survive as an independent company. Peter

To: rkrw who wrote (13217)	9/30/2004 12:25:14 PM
From: A.J. Mullen	Respond to of 52153

A friend of mine is fairly senior in Merck. He was involved with their anti-anxiety drug and disappointed when they dropped it. He complained that Merck was very conservative and that they were very proud that they had never had to withdraw a drug from the market. In truth I'm unsure whether he said they had never withdrawn one, or that they had never had to withdraw one, ie been ordered to. Anyway, they are proud of their ethics, and they seem to have acted responsibly here. Ashley