While combo pills can be an easy way for drug developers to make a quick buck, things don't always go as planned. Witness yesterday's second setback [1] for GSK and Pozen's combo drug Trexima. Trexima is made up of GSK blockbuster migraine drug Imitrex and generic naproxen. The FDA requested more data on the concern that the drugs together had side effects that they didn't have when taken separately.
Recently, CombinatorRX also suffered disappointing results [2] for CRx-150, a rheumatoid arthritis treatment that combined the antidepressant amoxapine and the cardiovascular drug dipyridamole. And as The Wall Street Journal notes, NitroMed's BiDil [3] and Pfizer Caduet have suffered from lackluster performance in the market. Other companies have had success with drug combinations, but they're far from a sure thing.
- read this entry from the Wall Street Journal health blog [4].
Related Articles:
New combos of old drugs may be boon to biotech. Report [5]
CombinatoRx dumps RA program as data fails to add up. Report [2]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/pozen-shares-sink-latest-trexima-delay/2007-08-02
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/combinatorx-dumps-ra-program-as-data-fails-to-add-up/2007-06-28
[3] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/in-step-toward-personalized-medicine-fda-approves-bidil/2005-06-24
[4] http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/08/02/combo-pills-prove-alluring-but-tricky/
[5] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/new-combos-of-old-drugs-may-be-boon-to-biotech/2007-07-03