Merck, Schering-Plough Release ENHANCE Trial Data

Results from the Phase III ENHANCE trial of Merck and Schering-Plough’s Vytorin showed the drug was no more effective than Zocor in treating people genetically predisposed to having high cholesterol.

The multinational, randomized, double-blind, active-comparator trial compared Vytorin, which is a combination of Merck’s Zocor (simvastatin) and Merck and Schering-Plough’s Zetia (ezetimibe), with Zocor alone in 720 patients with markedly elevated plasma levels of LDL cholesterol.

The data showed there was no statistically significant difference between treatment groups on the primary endpoint, which was the mean change in intima-media thickness measured at three sites in the carotid arteries over a two-year period, according to the companies.