news/AMGN/2023.03.06/Merck's drug boosts exercise capacity in pulmonary hypertension patients.txt

March 6 (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc said on
Monday its experimental therapy helped increase exercise
capacity in patients with a deadly disease that causes high
pressure in blood vessels of the heart and lungs in a late-stage
study, lifting its shares about 4%.Sotatercept, combined with a background therapy, helped
patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension to walk about 40.8
meters more in six minutes.The drug, which Merck gained through its $11.5 billion
buyout of Acceleron Pharma in 2021, also showed significant
improvement in eight of the nine secondary goals, including
reducing the risk of death or clinical worsening of condition by
84% compared to placebo.J.P. Morgan analyst Chris Schott said the data exceeded the
brokerage's expectations and "should confirm the drug as go-to
add-on therapy" for pulmonary arterial hypertension.Schott forecast peak sales of $3 billion to $4 billion for
the drug.In October, Merck said sotatercept had met the main goal of
a late-stage study, but did not release the full data.Merck has been beefing up its portfolio of cardiovascular
drugs as part of its strategy to counter a possible hit to sales
to its best-selling drug Keytruda from biosimilar drugs in the
next few years.Another experimental heart drug, MK-0616, helped reduce
levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by between
41.2% at a low 6 mg dose and 60.9% at a higher 30 mg dose in a
mid-stage study, Merck said on Monday.Analysts have said MK-0616 would need to show a more than
50% reduction in LDL level, similar to drugs from rivals
Regeneron and Sanofi SA and Amgen.The data were presented at the American College of
Cardiology's annual meeting in New Orleans.(Reporting by Khushi Mandowara and Pratik Jain in Bengaluru;
Editing by Arun Koyyur and Shinjini Ganguli)