A few weeks ago, I noted the slide at right (click to enlarge), from Merck's various "Dog & Pony" shows, and its "R&D Day" webcast. I dutifully pointed out that Merck had no follow-on for the huge Cozaar®/Hyzaar® franchise -- now that the same has gone the way of the dodo, erh. . . generic in the US.
Overnight, the InVivo Blog notes that Merck is going to buy its way into the next anti-hypertensive, as opposed to invent it:
. . . .A Korean blockbuster is going global, after Merck buys from Hanmi Pharmaceutical the rights to incrementally modified hypertensive amlodipine product Amosartan in North America, China and Europe, PharmAsiaNews reports. The drug will be sold under Merck's brand Cozzar XQ. . . .
Well -- that is one way to skin a cat. The margins are likely less than 10 percent of what they'd be if it was a home-grown MRL effort, though. Still, it does [albeit partially] begin to fill a yawning gap.
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