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Merck & Co Inc.

6/19/2013, 11:35 PM ET

Quote & Headlines Market Currents StockTalk

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Friday, February 1, 1:10 PM Merck (MRK -3.1%) slips today after its Q4 fails to impress amid a decline in net sales. The company blames the earnings drop on patent expiry for its asthma drug Singulair, adding that the loss of its patent in the U.S. and Europe will be 2013's biggest revenue challenge. The company also announced a potential year-long delay in seeking regulatory approval for its new osteoporosis drug odanacatib, citing the need for additional safety and efficacy data from an ongoing clinical trial. Read the full transcript of the earnings call here: Earnings Call Transcript. Comment! [Healthcare, Earnings, On the Move]
Friday, February 1, 7:20 AM More on Merck (MRK) Q4 earnings: Q4 sales of $11.7B off 5% Y/Y, with 2% due to impact of exchange rates. Impact of August 2012 loss of market exclusivity for Singulair: Q4 sales of $480M, -67.8% Y/Y. Januvia sales of $1.13B, +15.3% Y/Y. FY2013 non-GAAP EPS guidance of $3.60-$3.70 inline with consensus. Shares +0.7% premarket. (PR) Comment! [Earnings, Healthcare]
Friday, February 1, 7:01 AM Merck (MRK): Q4 EPS of $0.83 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $11.73B beats by $0.27B. (PR) 1 Comment [Earnings, Breaking News, Healthcare]
Friday, February 1, 12:05 AM Notable earnings before Friday’s open: AON, BEAM, BEN, BPO, CVX, HCLP, IR, LM, LYB, MAT, MRK, NOV, NS, NWL, PRGO, TSN, WETF, XOM Comment! [Earnings]
Thursday, January 31, 5:30 PM Notable earnings before Friday’s open: AON, BEAM, BEN, BPO, CVX, HCLP, IR, LM, LYB, MAT, MRK, NOV, NS, NWL, PRGO, TSN, WETF, XOM Comment! [Earnings]
Friday, January 25, 2:56 PM The FDA has approved an application by Merck (MRK +0.7%) to switch the status of the prescription patch Oxytrol, a treatment for overactive-bladder, to an over-the-counter item for women. The OTC patch, which will remain a prescription-only product for men, will be available this fall. 1 Comment [Healthcare]
Friday, January 25, 9:26 AM Threshold Pharmaceuticals (THLD) +6.3% premarket after earning a $30M milestone payment from drug partner Merck (MRK), which started a late-stage study of THLD's pancreatic cancer drug. TH-302 is an investigational hypoxia-targeted drug designed to be activated under severe tumor hypoxic conditions, a hallmark of many cancers. 1 Comment [Healthcare, On the Move]
Tuesday, January 8, 4:24 AM Merck (MRK) could be interested in acquiring Bausch & Lomb, with Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier saying "It's something that's worth thinking about." Any bid for Bausch & Lomb, whose owner, Warburg Pincus, hopes to get at least $10B in a sale, would be something of an about-turn for Frazier, as he previously said Merck isn't interested in large pharmaceuticals acquisitions. (previous) 4 Comments [Healthcare, M&A]
Monday, January 7, 5:33 PM The return of $10B-plus drug deals may be here as pharmaceutical companies appear to be gearing up to start buying again. Five of the largest U.S. drug makers have spent the last several years building up their cash positions in anticipation of expiring patents. Now, with nearly $70B in cash equivalents at their disposal, all eyes are on JPMorgan’s annual health-care conference in San Francisco, where the big drug makers will likely be on the hunt for assets to fill revenue holes left by expired patents. 2 Comments [Healthcare]
Monday, January 7, 8:40 AM The FDA accepts Merck's (MRK) resubmission of a New Drug Application for its sugammadex sodium injection, which is used as a muscle relaxant during surgery. The FDA rejected the original NDA for sugammadex in 2008 and asked for additional information about allergic reactions and bleeding. (PR) 1 Comment [Healthcare]
Wednesday, January 2, 2:31 PM Mylan (MYL +0.5%) says the FDA has approved its Rizatriptan benzoate tablets - a generic version of Merck's (MRK) Maxalt tablets - for the treatment of migraine headaches in adults. Comment! [Healthcare]
Monday, December 31, 2012, 9:00 AM Not all diagnostics companies are worried at the prospect of the Supreme Court striking down patents on two cancer-related genes "owned" by Myriad (MYGN) in a decision that is due to come in 2013. Quest (DGX) says it could be a "positive development," as it would "open new opportunities to develop new testing services." Myriad, which has spent 17 years and $500M on isolating the "DNA molecules and processes," isn't so sanguine. Comment! [Healthcare]
Thursday, December 20, 2012, 9:00 AM Merck's (MRK -2.9%) Tredaptive (Cordaptive) cholesterol treatment failed to meet its primary goal in a massive study of 25,673 patients. The drug didn't significantly cut the risk of coronary deaths, non-fatal heart attacks, strokes or revascularizations compared with statin therapy. Merck will end its bid to for regulatory approval of Tredaptive in the U.S.; the drug is sold in 40 countries and had sales of $13M in Q1-Q3. (PR) 1 Comment [Healthcare]
Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 6:15 PM The top 10 dividend-yielding stocks from the "ultimate stock pickers" at Morningstar: GSK, COP, INTC, LLY, NVS, MRK, PM, PFE, SYY, JNJ. 14 Comments [Quick Ideas]
Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 8:39 AM Merck (MRK) signs a deal to use GE Healthcare's (GE) Flutemetamol imaging agent in clinical studies of Merck's MK-8931 drug for treating Alzheimer's disease. Flutemetamol, which performed well in its own Phase III trials, helps detect beta amyloid deposits in the brain. The build-up of beta amyloid has been associated with Alzheimer's. (PR) Comment! [Healthcare]
Thursday, December 13, 2012, 7:18 PM Merck (MRK) receives FDA approval to revise the biologics labeling on both the refrigerator-stable and frozen formulations of it's Chicken pox vaccine Varivax Details of the revised labeling aren't currently available. Comment! [Healthcare]