Tax gains lift Merck but sales disappoint

Merck & Co Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as one-time tax gains helped offset plunging sales of its former flagship product, Singulair, an asthma drug that began facing cheaper generics in August. But overall third-quarter sales came in slightly below Wall Street expectations on Friday, as Singulair's decline outpaced already-grim predictions for it.
"There was nothing excellent about the quarter, but nothing scary about it either," said Michael Liss, portfolio manager of American Century Investments, whose mutual funds own Merck shares. Sales of Singulair tumbled 55 percent to $602 million. However, a number of Merck's newer products - including treatments for diabetes, hepatitis C and HIV - generated double-digit sales gains that helped cushion Singulair's free fall. All told, global company revenue fell 4 percent to $11.49 billion in the quarter, below Wall Street expectations of $11.57 billion.
Liss said the slim decline was acceptable, given the Singulair generics, especially in view of potential new revenue streams from medicines Merck is shepherding through clinical trials. "They're doing the right things they need to do to position themselves for growth over the next three to five years," Liss said, citing experimental drugs to treat cholesterol, Alzheimer's disease, insomnia, osteoporosis and other diseases.
Merck needs the new drugs to cushion Singulair's swoon, but also to withstand looming generic competition for other important medicines. Its Maxalt migraine drug, with $600 million in annual sales, goes generic in December, followed next year by its Temodar brain cancer medicine, which has near-blockbuster sales of $900 million. Over the next 18 months, Merck aims to seek six drug approvals, including marketing applications for insomnia treatment suvorexant and osteoporosis treatment odanacatib.
In a conference call with analysts, Merck officials described plans within months to begin a late-stage trial of a new psoriasis drug and mid-stage trials of an Alzheimer's disease treatment - called a beta secretase inhibitor. Merck, the No 2 US drugmaker, said it earned $1.73 billion, or 56 cents per share, compared with $1.69 billion, or 55 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding special items, Merck earned 95 cents per share. Analysts, on average, expected 92 cents.