Daily Journal, "Merck Feared $437 Million In Lost Sales; Testimony Targets Firm's Knowledge of Vioxx's Risks"

          Merck & Co. anticipated it could lose nearly a fifth of a projected $2.5 billion in Vioxx sales if its marketing campaign failed to neutralize consumer concerns about cardiovascular risk associated with its once-popular painkiller, a marketing expert testified.
          Cornelia Pechmann, a professor of marketing at the University of California, Irvine, said Merck, the drug's manufacturer, identified concerns about heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular injuries as an obstacle to sales.
Marketing research showed those concerns were the main barriers to consumer acceptance of the painkiller, Pechmann testified Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
          Merck foresaw a $437 million loss in sales if the company did not recalibrate the message to consumers to calm concern, she said.
          Pechmann said she reviewed "boxes and boxes of marketing documents" to reach the conclusions laid out in her testimony. It supported plaintiffs' attorneys' central contention that Vioxx caused heart attack and stroke and that Merck knew of the risks but hid the information from physicians and consumers.
          The New Jersey-based pharmaceutical firm faces 11,500 lawsuits nationally alleging that Vioxx caused heart attack and stroke.
          Merck defense attorneys maintain that the company's research showed Vioxx elevated cardiovascular risk only after 18 months of use or more. The company disclosed risk information in letters to the Food and Drug Administration, press releases and other publicly available documents, the lawyers have said.
          Pechmannn testified that Merck marketers developed specific messages keyed to particular audiences to neutralize concerns about cardiovascular risks. They were aimed at consumers with chronic pain, their physicians and the general public.
          An initial campaign message changed after the company received a warning letter from the federal Food and Drug Administration in September 2001, Pechmann said. The FDA's letter criticized Merck promotional activities for minimizing the risks shown by one of the company's own studies.