Merck & Co. (MRK) said its fourth-quarter earnings fell 14%
on weaker sales as the drugmaker also was hit by expenses related
to its cost-cutting efforts.
Merck confirmed that it has entered three separate collaboration
agreements with other drugmakers to evaluate Merck's
investigational MK-3475 immunotherapy cancer treatment -- part of a
promising new class of experimental drugs that unleash the body's
immune system to target cancer cells. Merck will collaborate on
studies of MK-3475 in combination with therapies from Pfizer Inc.
(PFE), Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and Incyte Corp. (INCY). Financial terms
weren't provided about the collaborations, which may provide a view
of how the future of R&D may shape up.
Merck's research-and-development chief, Roger M. Perlmutter,
said Merck is looking at MK-3475 across a wide range of cancers,
both as a standalone therapy and in combination with other
treatments.
"These new collaborations with Amgen, Incyte and Pfizer
underscore our shared determination to evaluate treatment regimens
with the potential to provide meaningful benefits to patients
suffering from cancer," Mr. Perlmutter said.
In addition to working with the three drug makers, Merck will
start looking at the compound's potential against 20 cancers it
hasn't yet been put up against.
For 2014, Merck forecast per-share earnings of $3.35 to $3.53
and revenue of $42.4 billion to $43.2 billion. Analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters expected a per-share profit of $3.48 and revenue of
$43.35 billion.
The company also expects 2014 adjusted marketing and
administrative as well as R&D expenses to be below 2013 levels
due to continuing prioritization and focused spending on core
product lines and upcoming launches.
Merck has struggled with patent expirations for top-selling
drugs and setbacks in its efforts to bring new products to market,
trends that led to the company's October plan to reduce its
workforce by 20% over the next two years, including reductions in
its research-and-development unit.
Merck reported a profit of $781 million, or 26 cents a share,
down from $908 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding acquisition- and restructuring-related charges and other
items, adjusted earnings rose to 88 cents from 83 cents. Revenue
decreased 3.4% to $11.32 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a per-share profit
of 89 cents and revenue of $11.36 billion.
Sales of Merck's previous No. 1 product, asthma treatment
Singulair, which lost patent protection in 2012, fell 38% to $298
million, on top of a drop of 67% a year earlier.
Type 2 diabetes drug Januvia sales fell 1% to $1.12 billion.
Sales of the drug were soft all year, a marked halt to the
double-digit percentage sales gains seen since its 2006
introduction.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires