Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
After Posting Declining Profits, Merck Looks To Make Gains In 2016 With Cancer, Hep C Drugs
The Wall Street Journal: Merck Posts Lower Revenue And Profit
Merck & Co. posted declines in sales and profit as the pharmaceutical giant gave revenue projections below analyst forecasts and earnings expectations on the lower end of them. ... Merck said it expects 2016 adjusted earnings per share of between $3.60 and $3.75 and revenue between $38.7 billion and $40.2 billion. One contributor to 2016 sales will be Zepatier, a new treatment for hepatitis C that was approved last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The market for hepatitis C drugs is now dominated by Gilead Sciences Inc., but Merck hopes to gain ground partly by competing on price. (Hufford and Loftus, 2/3)
The Wall Street Journal: Merck: A Leg Up In The Cancer Drug Race
In the search for the next blockbuster, Merck has a chance to make some headway in the cancer-drug race this year. Merck announced Wednesday that sales of its new cancer treatment Keytruda totaled $566 million in 2015. Keytruda is a bright spot in Merck’s portfolio, and expectations are high. Wall Street analysts forecast annual sales of about $5 billion by 2020, according to FactSet. That would make Keytruda the company’s second largest drug by sales. (Grant, 2/3)
Reuters: GSK Dismisses Near-Term Split As New Drugs Offset Falling Advair
GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday the chance of it spinning off or selling its consumer health business before 2018 was "extraordinarily low", arguing the group's strategy was delivering, helped by rising sales of new medicines. Growing demand for recently launched HIV and respiratory drugs helped Britain's biggest drugmaker beat forecasts for fourth-quarter earnings by a small margin, lifting the shares in a sharply lower market. (Hardcastle and Potter, 2/3)
The Wall Street Journal: GlaxoSmithKline: Playing The Waiting Game
The cogs are turning at GlaxoSmithKline. The U.K. pharmaceuticals group’s latest results landed without the type of operational or financial mishap that has dogged the company in recent years. Indeed, there was some reason for cheer. Sales of Glaxo’s new respiratory products have (finally) picked up; overall, it looks set to hit its $8.6 billion 2020 target for sales of new products two years early. (Thomas, 2/3)
