Merck plans to count coughs and months until gefapixant is back in FDA hands

Merck & Co. is going to be counting coughs in the months until the P2X3 receptor antagonist medicine gefapixant is back before regulators.

After receiving a complete response letter from the FDA in January, Merck has now promised to perform new analyses to fulfill a request for more efficacy information from the agency. The Kenilworth, New Jersey-based pharma was seeking an FDA nod for gefapixant to treat refractory chronic cough or unexplained cough in adults.