Monday, March 7, 2011

March 30 At EASL -- Victrelis™ Study Unlikely To Change Narrative -- Telaprevir Still Plainly Superior In Hep C


So, it would seem that New Merck will ultimately register the name Victrelis® (though it remains a simple common law "TM", or trademark at the moment), to brand its boceprevir next gen Hep C candidate. Merck's candidate, boceprevir, is the "second class" would-be competitor to the J&J/Vertex telaprevir candidate. It also seems clear that this is far more sizzle than steak (yes, it is a legacy Schering-Plough program!) -- off the wires, as of lunchtime today:

. . . .[New Merck announced] several new data analyses from Phase III studies of VICTRELISTM (boceprevir), its investigational oral hepatitis C protease inhibitor, will be presented at The International Liver CongressTM / 46th European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) annual meeting. The meeting will be held from March 30 – April 3 in Berlin. . . .

Merck is off about $0.35 this midday -- so I wouldn't bet that there is anything of materially positive import, here. In any event, we'll keep you posted.

No comments: