FW: Merck and Roche Strike Hepatitis C Pact

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Subject: Merck and Roche Strike Hepatitis C Pact

Date: 5/23/11 4:00:22 AM

From: " Remak "

" Bill Remak "

Merck and Roche Strike Hepatitis C Pact

Partners will promote Victrelis together and research new treatments.

MICHAEL FITZHUGH

The Burrill Report <http://www.burrillreport.com/>

“Triple combination therapy for hepatitis C marks a major change in the

way this disease is treated.†<http://www.burrillreport.com/>

Merck and Roche will work together to promote Merck's newly approved

hepatitis C therapy, Victrelis, and to explore the development of new

hepatitis C treatments from combinations of already-approved and

experimental drugs.

Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreements, Roche will promote

Victrelis to U.S. physicians as part of a triple combination therapy

regimen. The companies are also negotiating to extend the co-promotion

deal globally, they say. Financial terms of the agreement were not

released.

Chronic hepatitis C, a viral disease that causes liver damage and

sometimes liver failure, affects about 3.2 million people in the United

States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. Treatment during the last decade has primarily relied on a

48-week course of two generic drugs in combination, peginterferon and

ribavirin. Now, with Victrelis and Incivek, a Vertex Pharmaceuticals

drug which is widely expected to become FDA-approved in May for treating

hepatitis C, the duration of treatment is expected to be trimmed to as

little as 24 weeks for many people battling the chronic infection.

Victrelis, when used in combination with peginterferon and ribavirin,

has also proven substantially more effective than the current standard

of care, peginterferon and ribavirin used alone. Clinical studies of

Victrelis demonstrated a cure rate of 66 percent, versus the 35 to 40

percent cure rate offered by Merck's peginterferon and ribavirin

combination, Pegintron, or Roche's version of the combo, Pegasys.

Vertex's Incivek has demonstrated an even bigger improvement in clinical

trials, with a 79 percent cure rate in newly treated patients.

" Triple combination therapy for hepatitis C marks a major change in the

way this disease is treated, " says Pascal Soriot, COO of Roche's

pharmaceuticals division.

Providing a clear and strong message to patients infected with hepatitis

C and considering treatment with Victrelis could prove especially

important to clearing up what Enzon Pharmaceuticals, a company providing

technology used in Merck's injectable hepatitis C treatment Pegintron,

called " the unsettled hepatitis C market. "

" There has been some indication that a significant number of patients

suffering from hepatitis C may be deferring treatment until the new

therapies become available potentially as early as mid-2011, " the

company noted in its latest annual report, issued March 16. Such

deferment is made possible by the slow pace at which the disease

progresses in patients whose infections have yet to critically tax their

overall health.

Analysts expect sales of both Victrelis and Incivek to grow rapidly,

projecting both drugs will generate more than $1 billion in annual

sales.

May 20, 2011

http://www.burrillreport.com/article-merck_and_roche_strike_hepatitis_c_pact.htm\

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<http://www.burrillreport.com/article-merck_and_roche_strike_hepatitis_c_pact.ht\

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Bill

Bill Remak, BSMT, BSPH, SGNA, AHCJ .

Chairman, California Hepatitis C Task Force

Steering & Communications Committee Member,

California Chronic Care Coalition

Chair, National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces

Secretary of the Board of Directors, FAIR Foundation

( F air A llocations I n R esearch)

Co-founder, Dream of Life Coalition

149 Wyndham Way, Suite #223

Petaluma, Ca. USA

94954-3875

office 707 773-4922

cell 707 364-1802

fax 415 276-5893

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<http://www.californiahcvtaskforce.org/>

www.chroniccareca.org <http://www.chroniccareca.org/>

<http://www.chroniccareca.org/>

www.NAHTF.org <http://www.nahtf.org/> <http://www.nahtf.org/>

www.fairfoundation.org <http://www.fairfoundation.org/>

<http://www.fairfoundation.org/>

www.evidencebasedhealthcare.org <http://www.evidencebasedhealthcare.org>

<http://www.evidencebasedhealthcare.org>

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