Merck's ($MRK) Vytorin aids kidney patients, trial shows

Merck ($MRK) plans to ask the FDA for approval to market Vytorin for patients with chronic kidney disease.

Will a new indication reverse Vytorin's downward spiral? We may well get an opportunity to find out. In trial data presented over the weekend, the cholesterol drug beat placebo at preventing cardiovascular trouble in kidney patients. Sixteen percent fewer heart events for Vytorin patients compared with placebo patients, to be exact.

So now, Merck ($MRK) plans to ask the FDA for approval to market Vytorin for patients with chronic kidney disease. Currently approved to treat high cholesterol, the drug combines a statin (simvastatin) with Zetia (ezetemibe), which lowers cholesterol by a different mechanism. The drug was once a major seller for Merck, but began to lose patients after the Enhance trial showed it didn't treat artery-hardening any better than simvastatin alone. And since then, some trial data hinted that Zetia might be linked with an increased cancer risk.

A positive trial in a new area is a big deal for Vytorin--and that the 9,000-patient study showed no i