Saturday, March 24, 2012

Disappointing Results in Merck Anticoagulant Study


CHICAGO -- Officials at drugmaker Merck & Co.(MRK_) say they will take more time to decide what to do about an experimental blood thinner that gave disappointing results in a second big study.
The study was aimed at preventing repeat heart attacks and strokes in people who had already suffered one or were in danger of one because of hardened arteries in their legs.
The drug, vorapaxar, lowered the risk of those problems but also raised the risk of major bleeding, including dangerous bleeding in the head, which largely canceled out the drug's benefit.
Results of the study were discussed Saturday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago and published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

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