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Typical Friday afternoon news release.

Schering-Plough and Merck announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected a proposed asthma-allergy drug that would have combined two best-selling drugs, Claritin and Singulair, into one tablet.

The two companies said they received a "not-approvable" letter from the FDA for the combination product. They did not say whether the drug was rejected for safety, efficacy or other reasons.

Schering spokeswoman Lisa Ellen declined to elaborate on why the FDA rejected the product or say if the two companies planned to resubmit the drug for approval at a later date.

"We're still looking at it, and still evaluating the future of the joint venture as well," Ellen said.

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