Merck & Co. told analysts yesterday it expects to seek U.S. approval in 2007 for drugs to treat HIV, cholesterol and insomnia, and aims to have another four products in late-stage trials by mid-year.
The products due to be in late-stage trials are MK-524B, which raises "good" HDL cholesterol; weight loss drug MK-364, which works through the same mechanism as Sanofi-Aventis' Acomplia; MK-974 for
migraine headaches; and MK-822, which treats osteoporosis by blocking a protein called Cathepsin K. The U.S. drugmaker also expressed confidence in a cancer drug, MK-457, now in mid-stage trials
against a wide variety of tumors.
