Merck's HCV Strategy Might Be: Get To Market, Then Improve Incrementally

Labeling for intravenous drug users with hepatitis C might be an important niche indication while Merck gets triple combination NDA ready.

Merck & Co. Inc. is nearing approval of its two-drug direct-acting antiviral combo for hepatitis C heading into the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease conference, but its commercial strategy seems already to be looking past the so-called "doublet" to several therapeutic improvements that a triple-combination therapy in Phase II could offer.

Merck has to play multiple stratagems in HCV at the same time because it is coming to an already crowded market; its doublet of NS5A inhibitor elbasvir and second-generation protease...

More from Clinical Trials

More from R&D