Merck (MRK) and Shering-Plough (SGP) have finally released the ENHANCE data and they do not look good, neither for MRK and SGP stock prices (both of which were significantly down in pre-market trading!) nor for patients who have been taking ezetimibe as either Vytorin or Zetia - all the trends were in the WRONG DIRECTION (i.e., they favored simvastatin alone) IN SPITE OF robust additional LDL lowering with ezitimibe:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080114/20080114005752.html?.v=1
This further evidence that this drug does not influence important clinical outcomes should renew interest in BOYCOTTING ezitimibe in all forms until/unless improved clinically meaningful outcomes can be shown with this agent in properly designed and conducted trials with sufficient transparency.
(Of course, I recognize that Vytorin is Vanquished only in this battle, that others will follow, and that MRK and SGP will say that these "real trials" are still being conducted, as if they funded ENHANCE for no good reason, and as if, had it been a postive study, they would have downplayed its significance and emphasized cautious interpretation of the results, pending completion of the "real trials".)
This is discussion forum for physicians, researchers, and other healthcare professionals interested in the epistemology of medical knowledge, the limitations of the evidence, how clinical trials evidence is generated, disseminated, and incorporated into clinical practice, how the evidence should optimally be incorporated into practice, and what the value of the evidence is to science, individual patients, and society.
Showing posts with label zetia;ezetimibe;vytorin;ENHANCE;boycott;evidence;Shering-Plough;Merck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zetia;ezetimibe;vytorin;ENHANCE;boycott;evidence;Shering-Plough;Merck. Show all posts
Monday, January 14, 2008
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