Merck

Merck KGaA budgets $1.58B for drug R&D

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:59:59 -0400

With about 40 drug development projects in the pipeline, Germany's Merck KGaA says it will spend about €1 billion ($1.58 billion) on drug research this year. That R&D budget represents about 22 percent of sales and is a big increase on last year's budget of €890 million. Merck officials say they're out to sell their diabetes research division, and plan to focus on four key areas: cancer, infertility, nervous system and autoimmune diseases.

- check out the AFX report

Genetics research offers new life to failed drugs

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:59:59 -0400

Big Pharma companies are often quick to turn their backs on a drug that doesn't deliver the kind of data needed to win approval as well as big markets. But a series of these failed development programs have been resurrected by scientists who decided to search for the kind of genetic biomarkers that would define a group of patients who would respond positively.

Research scientist Michael Bristow, for example, has formed a new company to take over development of bucindolol, which had failed to measure up against other cardiovascular drugs on the market. And Clinical Data hopes that it can identify a subpopulation of patients who will respond to the antidepressant vilazodone, dropped after a disappointing mid-stage trial mounted by Merck KGaA.

- read the article in the Wall Street Journal

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Developers, geneticists brainstorm diabetes therapies

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:59:59 -0400

What do you get when you mix 20 drug developers active in the diabetes field with a room full of geneticists? Hopefully, a new generation of therapies that pinpoint subsets of the disease, each with its own unique genetic thumbprint.

There are 21 million Americans alone who suffer from type 1 or type 2 diabetes. But any clinician will tell you that cases are often remarkably dissimilar. And new research indicates that a person's genetic profile has a lot to do with their disease. MODY, for example, involves six different genetic subtypes that account for two percent of all cases. So far 16 genes have been linked to type 2 and 14 genes have been associated with type 1. Genetics expert Francis Collins like to highlight one gene that is responsible for getting zinc to insulin-producing cells--a prime drug target in diabetes.

Merck's Eric Shadt, meanwhile, says he believes several genes work together as a kind of master switch. One set of obesity genes may work in tandem, offering a red flag in the obese to identify likely diabetics.

- check out the AP report

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Foot-and-mouth outbreak linked to research lab

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

A private laboratory in England is the prime suspect in the recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. UK officials believe that a breakdown in procedures at Merial Animal Health--which is jointly led by Merck and Sanofi-Aventis--led to the infection of nearby animals. The strain of foot-and-mouth disease that was discovered is the same strain that is studied in the laboratory, which researches and manufactures new vaccines. The lab, meanwhile, insists that it has operated for years without any biosecurity breach. Government investigators are promising complete answers in 48 hours to help stem the crisis atmosphere in the country. On the one hand, a nearby lab breach would calm fears that the disease was being spread through herds in the country. The last outbreak cost the UK £7 billion. But a release of the disease from a lab would also likely heighten biosecurity efforts in the country.

- check out the article for more