(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday certain samples of sitagliptin, a compound in Merck’s diabetes drug Januvia, were contaminated with a possible carcinogen.
The agency said it would not object to the temporary distribution of sitagliptin containing the impurity above the acceptable intake limit of 37 nanogram per day, and up to 246.7 nanogram per day to avoid a shortage.
Shares of Merck, which was not immediately available for comment, fell sharply before recovering to trade up 0.2% at $88.74.
(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
