Merck's Sales Up 19% Amid Fears For The Future

US pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co has announced that third-quarter netincome rose 19% to $1.2 billion, or $0.99 per share, on revenues of $5.9 billion, also up 19% on the corresponding period last year, due principally to continued strong growth of its established products, in particular its cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor (simvastatin). Sales of Zocor, which Merck claims is now the world's largest-selling cholesterol-lowering medicine, rose 24% to $900 million. Revenues from the company's other treatment in the cholesterol-lowering market, Mevacor (lovastatin), slipped 16% to $265 million.

Raymond Gilmartin, president and chief executive, said that both domestic and international operations reported strong unit volume gains with newer products such as Trusopt (dorzolamide) for glaucoma and HIV protease inhibitor Crixivan (indinavir) increasing market share. Mr Gilmartin's enthusiasm, however, is not shared by the majority of analysts nor the New York Stock Exchange.

Slightly Disappointing Results Merck's EPS of $0.99 fell just below First Call's overall analysts' estimate of $1.00, and the group's shares closed down $4.3125 to $97.9375 on the day of the announcement (October 16). Analysts say that despite Zocor's continued growth, Merck is going to face fierce competition from Pfizer and Warner-Lambert's alliance product Lipitor (atorvastatin).