Merck Firm on Decision to Stay in Heart Disease Research

Right at the heels of Pfizer Incorporated comes new research trends on heart disease medication, says Merck & Co. The pharmaceutical giant is dead set on its commitment to provide and steer continuing research on the treatments for heart disease – which is also the number one killer disease of the entire world. There is a multi billion dollar market with more than one hundred and million patients, and Merck believes in staying true to its mission to serve these patients.

History and Legacy of Merck

Merck debuted in the cardiac drug market some fifty years ago. Right now, it has eight different types of experimental drugs that involve human testing and the company has made its announcement to work alongside the American Heart Association. This partnership will be formally introduced at the AHA's annual conference slated to run from Saturday to Wednesday in New Orleans.

Dr. Richard Pasternak, the head of cardiovascular clinical research, maintains that Merck has a legacy and as well as a responsibility and opportunity to grab. This was his press statement to the Associated Press. He adds that this was further strengthened by the fact that cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of disability and of course death in the entire world. Merck has been able to produce more than thirty different types of cardiovascular medicine with some being the first ones in their class.

Profits, Revenues and Progress in Cardiovascular Research

The company currently generates revenues of around seven billion US dollars for blood pressure drugs out of the twenty four billion US dollars total annual revenue it makes. Seven billion dollars is allocated to the medicines catering to blood pressure such as Hyzaar, Cozaar and Vasotec. The pinnacle of heart drugs presented by Merck was the medicine Mevacor, which was a cholesterol-lowering drug that was introduced to the market during the 1980s. Pasternak maintains that this drug was the beginning of a new era in heart medication. And the numbers don't lie as well.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs are the hottest-selling medicines in such a category and rival the sales of Pfizer's Lipitor drug. The company is currently enjoying the fact that their greatest rival has not been able to come up with a newer version of their cholesterol-lowering medication and has come to a road block in heart disease research. Merck is positive that it can make the changes their rival could not given time and a few more opportunities.