Merck and Pfizer's ertugliflozin meets Phase III endpoint

Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) in partnership with its peer Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced that a Phase III study (VERTIS SITA2) of ertugliflozin, an investigational oral SGLT2 inhibitor for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes, met its primary endpoint.

Both 5mg and 15mg daily doses of ertugliflozin showed significantly greater reductions in A1C of 0.69% and 0.76%, respectively, compared with placebo (p<0.001, for both comparisons), when added to patients on a background of sitagliptin (100mg/day) and stable metformin (≥1500mg/day). These study results were presented for the first time during an oral session today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Munich, Germany.

Merck and Pfizer entered a global (except Japan) collaboration on ertugliflozin in 2013, under which Pfizer earned an upfront of $60 million along with eligibility for additional contingent payments.