Schering-Plough Corp's (SGP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) chief executive will buy $2 million worth of the drug maker's stock, the company said on Friday, following a 20 percent decline in company's shares this week spurred by a failed clinical trial of its big-selling cholesterol drug.
In a statement, Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan said the investment reflects his long-term confidence in the company, its cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin, and its late-stage drug pipeline. He also criticized the media's coverage of the trial, known as Enhance.
"The media interpretations of the top-line Enhance trial results, and the resulting stock price reaction, have been deeply troubling," Hassan said in a statement.
Vytorin and Zetia, with combined annual sales of about $5 billion, account for an estimated 70 percent of Schering's annual profit and 25 percent of Merck's earnings.
The company said Hassan had wanted to buy the stock on Thrusday, when it closed at $21.62 on the New York Stock Exchange. Instead, because of federal securities laws and other reasons, Schering said he will delay doing so until full results of the Enhance trial are presented at a medical meeting in late March.
Vytorin failed its primary goal of reducing fatty plaque in the carotid artery more effectively than the widely used generic cholesterol fighter simvastatin, which is also the active ingredient of Merck & Co's (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Zocor.
In fact, more plaque buildup was seen in patients taking far-costlier Vytorin during the 2-year trial than among those receiving simvastatin.
Vytorin cut levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol far better than simvastatin, that was not the trial's main focus.Source:www.reuters.com/
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