Merck & Co's 4th-qtr income plunges 58%

USA-based drug major Merck & Co has reported net income of $473.9 million, or $0.22 per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2006, a drop of 58% from the $1.1 billion it recorded in the comparable period in 2005. The company said that the decline was due to the combination of a $55.8 million one-time charge relating to corporate restructuring, higher materials and production costs, which grew 13% to $164.3 million, and the impact of generic competition on sales of its cholesterol drug Zocor (simvastatin), which were down over 65% to $379.0 million.

On a positive note, Merck reported that its fourth quarter sales reached $6.0 billion, an increase of 5%. The firm explained that the expansion had been driven by the performance of newer products, as well as the rapid adoption by health practitioners worldwide of first-in-class vaccines such as Gardasil (quadrivalent human papillomavirus [types 6, 11, 16, 18] recombinant vaccine), which contributed $155.0 million, and the diabetes treatment Januvia (sitagliptin), which saw turnover of $42.0 million.

Additionally, the firm said that its partnership with fellow US drugmaker Schering-Plough, under which it sells the dyslipidemia drug Zetia (ezetimibe) and cholesterol-reducing agent Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin), achieved revenue growth of 46% to $1.1 billion (see also page 3).