Januvia: Defining Primary-Care Success and Risk

Januvia's fast development and successful launch exemplifies Merck's new biomarker-based R&D operation and its focused "one Merck" strategy. But the drug also provides an ideal case study of why doing everything right in primary care brings with it extraordinary risks: the key elements of Januvia's success -- blazing speed through development and the extraordinary safety profile on which its commercial triumph depends -- also define its most dangerous commercial liabilities.

By Roger Longman

Five months into its commercial life, Januvia has been the most successful anti-diabetic drug launch ever. Measured solely by returns, it could become the most successful primary-care drug ever launched--the...

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