Merck KGaA CEO weighs up GSK antidepressant deal

Merck KGaA of Germany has announced a massive 155.6% leap in net incomefor the fourth quarter of 2000 to 81.4 million euros ($75.8 million), while sales rose 10% to 1.77 billion euros. For the full year, turnover increased 26% to 6.74 billion euros and net profits climbed 17% to 247 million euros. In 2000, the firm's R&D spend went up almost 10% to 546 million euros.

The company announced its results at a press conference in Frankfurt, where the key piece of news was the move by GlaxoSmithKline to license Merck's oral antidepressant, EMD 68843 (SB 659746-A; Marketletter February 19), which is currently in Phase II trials. Bernhard Scheuble, Merck's chief executive, told the Marketletter that EMD 68843, which acts as both a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and a partial serotonin 5-HT1a receptor agonist, said that the drug has a superior profile to currently-marketed products, both in terms of safety and side effects. In particular, he noted that the effect in terms of sexual problems for patients, such as loss of libido, is greatly reduced, giving EMD 68843 a unique selling-point.

Nevertheless, the antidepressant market is getting more crowded by the day, and while the licensing-in of EMD 68843 is being seen by observers as an attempt by GSK to boost its presence in this franchise, on the back of Paxil/Seroxat (paroxetine), a launch of Merck's treatment is still some way down the line. Seroxat does not come off-patent until 2006, and GSK still has a controlled-release version of the antidepressant, which has been approved by the US Food & Drug Administration and was developed by SkyePharma, ready to hit the market when the world's largest pharmaceutical company decides to launch.