Merck may expand to medical devices

The new chief executive of Merck & Co Inc on Friday gave Wall Street its first taste of his plan to revive the company, including exploring expansion into medical devices and diagnostics, according to an analyst.
Merck CEO Richard Clark laid out his vision for the company in a meeting with sell-side analysts, according to a note from J.P. Morgan analyst Chris Shibutani.
"Longer-term, we heard for the first time of the potential for how Merck could even envision itself as a company with businesses beyond pure pharma (pharmaceuticals), to include devices (implantable) and diagnostics as well," Shibutani said.