Merck hep c

The Merck hep c drug to be discontinued in US. Up goes the stock

 

What the heck are those rep's suppose to do for the next year? They have already had nothing to do for a year and a half. Merck does not have any new HIV drugs and they do not need two sales forces to market to HIV. This is really strange. They cannot call on doctors ie gastroenterologist if they do not have a product at all to discuss. Merck is paranoid about off label discussions so this will be hard for the rep's that are still there.

 

Common sense, they are gone very soon!

 

some just got in. wow.

 

Well, Victrelis hasn't been used since a month after Solvaldi came out. If you know what's going on in the market and what is happening in R&D then you won't bevsaying sinking ship. Let's chat again in June then ask again what the reps are doing. I'm pretty sure they are focused on other drugs for now and have been for the past year.y

 

That drug is so inferior to the others that none of this matters anyhow.

 

On top of that the division has a putz for a leader followed by lightweights for managers.

 

Put a fork in it. It's done.

 

Unfortunately Merck will be late to the market and will not have a better drug. They will only be competitive if they make the market competitive by coming in with a price point below the market leader Gilead. I am sure the data will be fine, but the product will not offer a reason for physicians to change writing habits unless insurance plans force them to.

 

We will probably have a hep C price war. Look at GILD after hours they are down 6% after announcing earnings. This change in market dynamics could finally lead to a true price competitive pharma industry instead of an oligopoly. Merck's will be the 3rd drug in the category leading to price competition.

 

"Stephanie Yao, an FDA spokeswoman, declined to comment on Merck’s drug or whether it was the first time the FDA had taken back a breakthrough designation."

YES is the answer to the question that Ms. Yao declined to comment on. Merck has managed another industry first.

 

Wow. Just wow.

 

This is amazing. Feel bad for the rep's but not for the sleazy management team.

 

Merck executives dismissed the lose the breakthrough designation for the HCV combo therapy MK-5172/MK-8742 in their conference call. The full transcript of the call is available at TheStreet web site. The reality is without the breakthrough designation the application is subject to a standard review instead of a priority review, and prevents any chance of a rolling application while extensive later-stage studies are ongoing. Essentially Merck waits around before this HCV combo gets to market which doesn't help as Gilead's Sovaldi and Harvoni, and AbbVie's Viekira Pak continue to treat existing patients and establish market share.

 

Are you really surprised given the management team in place for hep c? I am not.

 

As an HCV rep, we have 2 positions that have nothing to do with each other most of the time. In 1 of our positions, we are just maintaining relationships with GI's and Hep docs that we have been calling on for years.
Then there's job #2. The HIV job. In true Merck fashion, the HCV reps don't know the HIV drugs and most of us hate HIV and don't get along with our HIV counterparts. The HIV reps are supposed to be cross trained in June on HCV so they can join us in our misery. It sucks. Virology sucks.

 

What about the impact of rebetol and ribasphere on us.

 

I guess the rep's are lucky to have a job. Merck has cut almost everyone else. Surprised that they are carrying the number of rep's they have. Everyone knows they don't have anything to do. Don't see how this division will be profitable. They will have to drop price to compete and they have been losing money carrying the rep's. The drug will just be a me to drug and Gilead will have a firm command on the market by the time Merck launches.

 

When you have an "ace" like RL in MA, all is fine. He'll worm his way into offices to make much ado about nothing, leaving the office staff scratching their heads. Too bad JG isn't still leading the troops up there.....oh yeah, that's right, he's scoring big at Abbvie!

 

Rob is the perfect Merck rep. Dumb, lazy ass kisser!