Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK – Free Report) reported third-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of $1.11 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.03 by 7.8%. Earnings rose 3.7% year over year.
Among other items, adjusted earnings exclude a charge related to its new oncology collaboration with Britain’s AstraZeneca (AZN – Free Report) .
Revenues for the quarter declined 2% year over year to $10.33 billion. Sales also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10.51 billion. Currency movement positively impacted revenues by 1%. Excluding currency impact, sales declined 3% year over year.
Lost sales in some markets due to a network cyber-attack in June hurt the top line in the quarter. Meanwhile, unfavorable comparisons with the third quarter of last year hurt sales.
Quarter in Detail
The Pharmaceutical segment generated revenues of $9.2 billion, down 3% (down 4% excluding Fx impact) year over year as continued strong sales of PD-1 inhibitor, Keytruda were offset by lower sales of key products like diabetes drug Januvia and HPV vaccine Gardasil/Gardasil 9. As in the previous quarters, loss of market exclusivity for several drugs also hurt the top line.
Keytruda brought in sales of $1.05 billion in third-quarter 2017, up 21% sequentially and 194% year over year. Sales continued to be driven by the launch of new indications globally. Keytruda sales are gaining particularly from strong momentum in the indication of first-line lung cancer.
Keytruda is already approved for many types of cancers and treatment settings including lung cancer, melanoma, head and neck cancer, classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma and bladder cancer.
Meanwhile, the Keytruda development program significantly advanced in the first half with regulatory approvals for four new indications in the United States and an additional indication in Europe. Key recent approvals include that for advanced bladder cancer, advanced microsatellite instability-high cancers and first approval as a combination therapy with Eli Lilly’s (LLY – Free Report) cancer drug Alimta (pemetrexed) and carboplatin (pem/carbo) in lung cancer.
