Merck & Co. Inc. provided an update on the clinical program for preladenant, Merck's investigational adenosine A2(A) receptor antagonist for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). An initial review of data from three separate Phase III trials did not provide evidence of efficacy for preladenant compared with placebo. Based on these results, the company is taking steps to discontinue the extension phases of these studies and no longer plans to pursue regulatory filings for preladenant. The decision to discontinue these studies is not based on any safety finding. The results of these studies will be presented at an upcoming scientific meeting and will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The Phase III clinical program for preladenant included three randomized, controlled clinical trials to evaluate safety and efficacy. Two of these studies assessed preladenant when added to levodopa therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe PD, and one assessed preladenant as monotherapy in early PD.

The U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed claims against Merck & Co. Inc., finding that the third-party payors failed to satisfy Article III's traceability requirement. The complaint did not sufficiently plead a causal link between the pharmaceutical company's offering of subsidies to insureds and the third-party payors' alleged increased costs. Merck & Co. Inc. offered coupons and discount cards (collectively, subsidies) that covered a portion, or sometimes all, of the co-pay that privately insured individuals would ordinarily have to pay for certain Merck brand name prescription drugs. Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 572 Health and Welfare Fund and United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 464A Health and Welfare Fund (collectively, third-party payors) sued Merck, alleging the subsidies illegally induced members of the third-party payors to obtain more expensive drugs instead of cheaper, equivalent generic drugs. The complaint further alleged that the subsidies amounted to undisclosed kickbacks to members and interfered with the cost sharing provision in members' contracts with the third-party payors. Merck moved to dismiss, arguing that the third-party payors did not plead an injury that could be traced to Merck's actions. The district court granted the motion. The gravamen of the complaint was that but for the subsidies, a doctor might have prescribed a lower priced drug, the patient might have purchased the lower priced drug and the third-party payors thus would have had lower reimbursement costs. The district court found that the alleged causal link failed. The complaint set forth no allegations that any patient purchased a Merck product because of the subsidies program or that the subsidies caused any doctor to prescribe a drug that he otherwise would not have. In addition, the third-party payors did not allege a specific instance in which they were forced to pay for medication that they would not have paid for but for the subsidies.

Sanford Heisler LLP has filed a $100 million individual and class action suit in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey against Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK). The action was brought by Kelli Smith on behalf of all female sales representatives at Merck. According to the complaint, the company systematically discriminates against its female and pregnant employees in assignment, promotion, advancement, and pay and retaliates against female employees in violation of Title VII of the US Civil Rights Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The complaint asserts that employees on maternity leave are ineligible for merit awards and recognition for their sales, even when their sales surpass those of their male counterparts. According to Smith's legal team, Merck has long been on notice about its company-wide gender and pregnancy discrimination, but has taken no steps to remedy them. In fact, the complaint notes that Merck routinely retaliates against women who raise discrimination complaints.