Startup wants to bring back Vioxx for hemophilia joint pain

TRENTON, New Jersey — Could there be a second life for the once-popular arthritis pill Vioxx? A startup pharmaceutical company hopes so.

Merck & Co. voluntarily pulled the blockbuster drug in 2004 amid evidence that it doubled the chances of having a heart attack or stroke.

Now tiny Tremeau Pharmaceuticals is working to bring it back, to treat severe joint pain caused by the bleeding disorder hemophilia. That’s for far fewer patients than the millions who took Vioxx pills for arthritis and other chronic pain — but if it’s approved, doctors could again legally prescribe it to anyone.

Many hemophilia patients rely on opioid painkillers because nearly every other pain reliever increases the risk of internal bleeding. Considerable research shows Vioxx doesn’t do that.

“It seemed to me that there was a huge unmet medical need” for these patients, Brad Sippy, Tremeau’s chief executive, told the Associated Press. He put together a plan and co-founded Tremeau last year to develop nonopioid pain treatments for rare diseases.

A longtime pharmaceutical marketing executive, Sippy worked at Merck during the Vioxx era and helped with its recall from pharmacy shelves.

When it stopped making Vioxx, Merck was facing thousands of lawsuits from people claiming the drug caused their heart attacks or strokes. Merck initially fought the lawsuits, but in 2007 agreed to a $4.85 billion US settlement.