Merck CEO Rob Davis has business growth on the brain as he builds ‘pipelines of the future’ – Endpoint News


Does Merck have what it takes for a successful pipeline? In short, no, CEO Rob Davis told investors and analysts during the company’s Q3 call on Thursday. But when it comes to M&A, he has his eye on a “list of places to play.”

The CEO also took a moment during a question-and-answer session to highlight Merck’s business development plans, which may or may not include Cigene after acquisition talks reportedly stalled in August. “Our urgency in business development has not changed,” Davis said bluntly.

“We continue to look very clearly at the portfolio of opportunities we’re interested in,” Davis said. “This is our priority, because we continue to believe that the best thing we can do to create long-term value is to invest in the sustainability of our business, investing in the future line.”

However, CFO Caroline Litchfield added, “We only work when science and value align.

Carolyn Litchfield

The news comes as Keytruda sales topped $5.4 billion last quarter, up 20% from Q3 2021. Merck’s 2028 patent cliff hit $250 million to combine Keytruda with one of Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccines. Dean Lee, president of Merck Research Laboratories, previously expressed hope that the drug would lead Merck to of In the year A leader in oncology by 2025, and Moderna’s partnership and ongoing research into the subcutaneous version should help push it into early treatment lines, he said on the Q3 call.

Kytruda’s numbers more than accounted for LaGevrio’s sales, which fell from $1.2 billion in Q2 to just $436 million. Compared with Pfizer’s Paxlovid, far fewer of Merck’s Covid-19 treatment — about 4 million — have been administered, according to HHS tracking. Of the 2.5 million doses of Lagevrio, just under 759,000 were administered, compared with 8.3 million doses of Paxlovide, and 5.4 million.

Meanwhile, Davis said the 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Vaxneuvance, was launched in pediatrics after its approval this June. The vaccine was first approved for adults in July 2021, but by then, Pfizer had been hit with a 20-strain shot of its own.

Dean Lee

Asked how Merck plans to compete with competitors like Pfizer, Lee said: “Our view is that more serotypes is not always better, and one size does not fit all… It’s the right drug, or in this case the right vaccine, for the right patient at the right time.”

Davis added during the call that Merck is conducting a Phase III trial of its 21-valent candidate, V116, in adults — “an important part of our population-based approach to invasive pneumococcal disease and part of our broader efforts to provide robust protection.” Both children and adults,” he said.

In the year Merck reported that sales of Pneumovax 23, Merck’s pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV), which was approved in 1982, fell 53 percent to $131 million this quarter, reflecting lower demand as the market shifts to newer vaccines. PPSV vaccines have performed poorly in young children, leading scientists to develop improved combination vaccines, such as Vaxneuvance and Pfizer’s Prevnar.

Sales of the Gardasil vaccine offset that loss to $2.3 billion last quarter, up 15 percent due to strong demand in China. While global vaccine standards are low, Merck said it is investing in production capacity to meet expected growth in demand “now and in the long term.”

Overall, Merck posted revenue of $15 billion last quarter, a 14 percent increase from last year. The company’s stock was up 2 percent at $MRK on Thursday afternoon.

While Davis plans to replace former CEO Ken Frazier as chairman, he says the company has come a long way in the past year.

“Do I think we have everything we need? No,” he said.



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