Merck's Zocor Suffered Blow When Clinical Trial Went Bad, but Most Engaged Healthy Heart Patients Have Not Yet Backlashed

Market Wire, September, 2004

Despite damaging results from a recent clinical trial on Merck's popular heart medication Zocor, the percentage of negative discussion posts about the drug by thousands of highly engaged consumers across dozens of leading cardiovascular Web sites has actually decreased 45 percent in the two weeks following the trial results. According to BuzzMetrics, the leader in word-of-mouth research and planning, this surprising decrease in negative sentiment occurred while the percentage of heart-health conversations mentioning Zocor increased fourfold, from 1.4 percent (in the three months prior to the trial results) to 5.7 percent (in the two weeks after the results were announced).

The Zocor trial -- the results of which were published July 2004 in the Journal of the American Medical Association -- examined patients who had recently suffered a heart attack. Patients taking a high dose of Zocor were at the same risk of suffering another cardiac event as patients taking a lower dose or a placebo. Moreover, a significant number of patients taking a high dose of Zocor had suffered some form of potentially dangerous muscle damage.

"Despite the clinical results and wide publicity, heart patients have not yet declared Zocor a dud," said Jonathan Carson, president and CEO of BuzzMetrics. "Rather, consumers are in a period of serious questioning and discovery as evidenced by their alarm and significantly higher discussion levels. Merck must recognize that it has a critical window to communicate Zocor's strengths and weaknesses while consumers' interest levels are still high."

Report Highlights: "When Clinical Trials Go Bad"

--  While explicit negative sentiment in online postings for Zocor
    decreased 45 percent following the trials, mixed or non-opinionated
    postings increased 25 percent (from 57 percent to 71 percent of Zocor
    mentions), demonstrating that consumers are in a period of questioning.

--  Recent controversies surrounding several key statins have put all
    brands in the spotlight: Crestor, Lipitor, Pravachol and Zocor collectively
    were mentioned in 8.5 percent of heart-health conversations in the three
    months before the Zocor trial results, but were mentioned in 14.5 percent
    in the two weeks after.  According to BuzzMetrics analysts, this indicates
    that consumers are highly engaged in sorting through the mixed messages
    currently being communicated about the heart drugs.

--  In the six months before the Zocor clinical trial results were
    announced, Lipitor was included most in cardio-health postings (4.7
    percent) while Crestor, Zocor and Pravachol were far behind (1.7 percent,
    1.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively).  In the two weeks after the
    trial, Zocor claimed the highest share of conversation (5.7 percent of
    postings) versus its competitors Crestor (4.4 percent), Lipitor (3.7
    percent) and Pravachol (0.6 percent).
    

Methdology

BuzzMetrics analyzed 50,000 unaided postings by cholesterol patients on thirty leading health-cardiovascular Web sites and public discussion forums, such as WebMD Cholesterol Support Group; WebMD Heart Disease Support Group; Healthboards High Cholesterol; bit.listserv.transplant; and iVillage Hypertension/High Cholesterol. BuzzMetrics segmented quantitative and qualitative data across four leading statin brands -- Crestor, Lipitor, Pravachol and Zocor -- to identify conversation frequency, conversation share, sentiment and subject/issue share. For the Zocor trial, BuzzMetrics analyzed postings between May 29, 2004 and Sept. 15, 2004 (three months prior to the release of the clinical trial results, and two weeks after).

Visit www.buzzmetrics.com for a free report.

About BuzzMetrics

BuzzMetrics, the leader in word-of-mouth research and planning, helps more than three dozen Fortune 1000 companies strategically leverage the buzz surrounding their businesses. BuzzMetrics' client list includes 13 of the top 15 pharmaceutical companies, as well as global leaders in virtually every industry -- companies like General Motors, Comcast, Mazda, JetBlue and Hewlett-Packard. Founded in 1999, BuzzMetrics spent two years of intense research and development creating its proprietary Discussion Miner software, followed by two more years of limited client services and pilot work to create a pitch-perfect set of skills and services. Since its full public launch in 2003, BuzzMetrics has been redefining what is possible with word of mouth.

Contact: Max Kalehoff (646) 478-4629 max.kalehoff@buzzmetrics.com