Pharma Blog Watch

Merck Drops Sleep Drug (BrandweekNRX)
In his blog, Jim Edwards points out he predicted in a post earlier this month that gaboxadol, an investigational insomnia drug that Merck announced it is discontinuing, would be "a loser."

In that post he questioned Merck's reasoning for developing a compound in the crowded and controversial sleep drug category dominated by sanofi-aventis' Ambien. "Perhaps people are expecting Ambien to crumble when it goes generic?"

Now he writes, "I called it!" But Friedman Billings Ramsey has said in an analyst note that it "is not changing its outlook on Sepracor's Lunesta as a result," he adds. "The category is still crowded, and sanofi's Ambien still slays newcomer brands. Thus the only remaining question is, will Lilly persist in its seemingly suicidal mission to get into this business?"