It was a big blow to Merck & Company when Vioxx® was withdrawn from the market due to increased risk of heart attack. Not in the attempt to replace Vioxx® but in identifying pain as one of the nine medical treatment areas in which the company is focusing: Merck will enter into collaboration with NeuroMed Pharmaceuticals to develop new painkilling drugs.
The deal (expected to be announced real soon) is that, Merck will pay an initial $25 million to gain the exclusive rights to Neuromed's family of drugs for chronic pain. The most advanced drug of which, called NMED-160 is into its midstage clinical trials.
Read more at NY Times.
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