Merck reports strong quarterly earnings, boosted by cancer drug

Merck CEO Ken Frazier on efforts to lower drug prices for patients, the fight against cancer, the impact of the tax reform package and the outlook for M&A.

Drugmaker Merck & Co (MRK.N) topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit on Friday as sales of blockbuster cancer drug nearly doubled and the company raised its full-year profit outlook.

Sales of Keytruda rose 89.2 percent to $1.67 billion, edging past sales of its rival immunotherapy Opdivo made by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY.N).

Merck’s total sales rose 5.4 percent to $10.47 billion.

The company now expects full-year adjusted profit forecast to be between $4.22 and $4.30 per share, up from prior guidance of between $4.16 and $4.28 per share.

Net income attributable to the company fell to $1.71 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the second quarter, from $1.95 billion, or 71 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.06 per share, ahead of the average analyst estimate of $1.03 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.