Merck raises annual profit outlook

NEW JERSEY, Oct 27 (Reuters): Merck & Co Inc posted a quarterly profit that beat estimates on Tuesday and raised its adjusted earnings forecast for the full year, as it expects a majority of the blow from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic to now be behind it.
The upbeat results showed Merck was on a recovery path after its revenue took a hit at the height of the pandemic, nudging the company's shares about 2 per cent higher in premarket trading.
Sales of the drugs increased by 2 per cent to $11.3 billion during the third-quarter, driven primarily by growth in its cancer drugs like blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda and certain hospital acute care products.
The company also benefited from increased demand for its bacterial pneumonia vaccine, Pneumovax 23, in the United States, Japan, and Europe as people seek to avoid one lung disease compounding another during the pandemic.