Shares of Merck were sliding again this morning on the news that the FDA has turned thumbs down on MK-0524A, its new cholesterol therapy. The stock dropped eight percent after regulators announced that the experimental therapy, a combination of niacin and laropiprant that had been high up on the drug giant's list of potential blockbusters, failed to make the grade. Getting an approval on Cordaptive [1], as the therapy was dubbed, would have gone a long way to easing the sting from the massive fallout that has hit Merck since new Vytorin data cast doubt on its efficacy [2].

"We plan to meet with the FDA and to submit additional information to enable the agency to further evaluate the benefit/risk profile of MK-0524A," said Peter Kim, executive vice president of the company and president of Merck Research Laboratories, in a prepared statement.

- see Merck's release [3]
- check out the report [4] in TheStreet.com

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