Like most of the Big Pharma companies, Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) needs a winner. Wall St. is scared witless that generic drug firms like Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ:TEVA) will scoop up all of the customers as drugs come off patent.
With Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and every corner store offering $4 prescriptions for generic drugs, the sun may be setting on operations like Merck.
Merck is trying to get its new painkiller [subscription required], Arcoxia, out the door without physicians thinking it has health risks like the company's heart-unhealthy drug Vioxx.
Arcoxia is already controversial and it is not even for sale in the U.S. with some doctors thinking the drug could be as dangerous as Vioxx. However, a study presented at the recent American Heart Association conference indicated that the drug was fairly safe. Only 1% of the people on the drug suffered a heart attack, stroke, or death within the first year.
Great odds if you are not the patient who died.
Douglas McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
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