MSD Voixx study ‘was for marketing purposes’

Clinical trials of Vioxx (rofecoxib) conducted in 1999 by Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) were primarily carried out to support a pre-launch marketing campaign, it has been claimed.

At the time, the company claimed the purpose of the tests was to the side effects of the drug, Reuters reports.

However, researchers claim the real aim of the Advantage study was to promote the prescription of the drug when it came on the market.

The team, writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, have based this claim on internal and external MSD documents collected by lawyers in the ongoing lawsuits relating to Vioxx, which has since been withdrawn.

Vioxx was withdrawn from sale in the US around four years ago following the publication of a study by MSD showing a doubling of the risk of heart attack and stroke in long-term users of the compound.

“Failure to disclose the primary purpose of a trial has ethical ramifications for patients, physicians and the design of clinical trials,” the researchers said.

They added seeding trials – like the Advantage study – where the compound in question is yet to receive regulatory approval could cause patient injury to further marketing ends.

MSD has not yet issued a response to these allegations.

Last month, MSD said it would start paying out to stroke victims who have used Vioxx, with the first claimants receiving initial payments in August.