57 per cent profit jump for Merck Q3
net profit, reporting an operating result of €291 million, a 36 per
cent increase on last year.
Boosting profits was a €60 million payment from Takeda Pharmaceutical as part of a research and marketing partnership to speed the development of matuzumab, and €10 million from Organon.
Merck Group sales rose by 8.8 per cent to €1,472 million, with all six divisions - led by liquid crystals and ethicals - making significant contributions to this growth.
"Products such as our cancer treatment Erbitux and liquid crystals, along with many other products, are producing another very good year for Merck," said Bernhard Scheuble, chairman of the executive board of Merck.
Third quarter sales for Erbitux, the company's first targeted antibody-based cancer treatment, amounted to €59 million, a 15 per cent increase compared to sales of €52 million in the second quarter of 2005.
Nine-month sales totaled €153 million, leading the company to expect that full-year Erbitux sales should exceed €200 million.
Erbitux was launched in the EU in 2004 for colorectal cancer, and now has marketing authorisation for this in 45 countries.
Merck is also seeking regulatory approval for Erbitux as a treatment for head and neck cancers in a bid to widen its use and sales potential.
Additionally, the company is working on a portfolio of cancer therapies to add to Erbitux, including Matuzumab, another antibody-based cancer treatment which is currently is in Phase II clinical trials in patients with non-small cell lung, gastric and colorectal cancers.
Speaking at last week's third quarter press conference, Scheuble said that Merck currently does not plan any further disposals following the sale of the laboratory distribution business VWR.
However, he would not rule out acquisitions and indicated that in pharmaceuticals in general, the company is looking for takeover targets.
This confirms previous statements by the company that it wants to strengthen its pharmaceutical business and in particular its generics division.
The company reported a rise in net income to €181.5 million, up from €115.6 million this time last year, beating the €175 million expected by analysts in a recent Bloomberg survey.
On the back of these positive results, Merck has raised its sales forecast for the year.
"Excluding VWR International, Merck now expects full-year sales will grow by a high single-digit rate and the operating result should improve by a double-digit rate," Scheuble said.
As a result, Merck expects to hike its dividend for 2005, compared to last year's dividend of €0.80 per share.
