Taiho to market Merck & Co's CTLC drug vorinostat in Japan, where MSD is expelled from JPMA

US drugs giant Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) Japanese subsidiary has entered into an agreement with local firm Taiho Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Otsuka (4768: JP), for vorinostat, an anticancer drug for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTLC), which the US firm markets as Zolinza. Financial terms of the accord were not disclosed.

The drug was recommended for approval at the end of May by the Pharmaceutical Affairs and Food Sanitation Council’s Second Committee on Drugs. It is expected to be approved this month and receive National Health Insurance price listing in the fall. Under the agreement, Taiho will promote and distribute vorinostat in Japan following marketing approval. MSD will be the marketing authorization holder, while Taiho will be the distributor, according to a joint press statement by the companies.

More than four years ago, the development in Japan of Merck Zolinza was urged by a study group on the use of unapproved drugs within Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on April 26 (The Pharma Letter May 7, 2007).