Merck’s Anti-PCSK9 Pill Sets Up Convenience Battle Against Infrequently Dosed Injectables

 
• By Alaric DeArment
  
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The drug maker announced the start of a Phase III program for its oral PCSK9 inhibitor MK-0616, including a 14,550-patient outcomes trial set to start later in the year.

Merck announced the initiation of its Phase III program for oral PCSK9 inhibitor MK-0616 • Source: Shutterstock

Merck & Co., Inc. is making a big push with the Phase III program for its oral PCSK9 inhibitor MK-0616, but it remains to be seen whether an oral option will wind up becoming preferred over the currently approved injected drugs given that patients must still take Merck’s pill daily, whereas the injectables offer in many cases far less frequent dosing. In other words, the competition will likely come down to different ideas of what is more convenient.

Merck said 25 August that it had launched the Phase III program for MK-0616 consisting of three trials expected to...

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