Merck ditches taranabant for obesity

Merck & Co., Inc. will not seek regulatory approval for taranabant, an investigational medicine, to treat obesity and is discontinuing its Phase III clinical development program for taranabant for obesity.

"Available Phase III data showed that both efficacy and adverse events were dose related, with greater efficacy and more adverse events in the higher doses. Therefore, after careful consideration, we determined that the overall profile of taranabant does not support further development for obesity," said John Amatruda, M.D., senior vice president and research head, diabetes and obesity, Merck Research Laboratories. "We thank the patients and investigators around the world who collaborated with us on the research program for taranabant and look forward to developing new medicines for obesity to address the significant medical need posed by this disease."