Merck has strong fourth quarter as COVID-19 treatment debuts

By TOM MURPHY
AP Health Writer

The blockbuster cancer treatment Keytruda pushed Merck past fourth-quarter expectations, and the drugmaker’s COVID-19 treatment debuted with nearly $1 billion in sales. A 50% jump in sales for the Gardasil vaccine, which protects against cancer-causing human papilloma virus infections, also helped, Merck said Thursday. Overall, Merck earned $3.76 billion in the final quarter of 2021, with total sales jumping 24% to $13.52 billion. Adjusted earnings, which exclude items like interest expense, totaled $1.80 per share. Analysts expected, on average, earnings of $1.53 per share on $13.16 billion in revenue in the final quarter of 2021, according to FactSet.