Merck (MRK) is scheduled to report the results its fiscal first quarter before the market open on Tuesday April 28, with a conference call scheduled for 8:00 am EDT. What to watch for 1. GUIDANCE: Along with its fourth quarter report in early February, the drug giant provided its fiscal year 2020 EPS view of$5.62-$5.77 on revenue of $48.8B-$50.3B. Analyst consensus at the time was for EPS of $5.61 on revenue of $49.53B. 2. ONCOLOGY SALES DOMINATE Q4 pharmaceutical sales increased 7% to $10.5B, driven primarily by growth in oncology, partially offset by the ongoing impacts of the loss of market exclusivity for several products. Growth in oncology was largely driven by sales of Keytruda which were $3.1B for the quarter, reflecting strong momentum from the NSCLC indications. 3. KEYNOTE-355 MEETS CO-PRIMARY ENDPOINT: On February 12, Merck announced that the pivotal Phase 3 KEYNOTE-355 trial investigating Keytruda, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in combination with chemotherapy met one of its dual primary endpoints of progression-free survival in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer whose tumors expressed PD-L1. Based on the recommendation of the DMC, the trial will continue without changes to evaluate the other dual primary endpoint of overall survival. 4. SPINOFFS: With its Q4 report, Merck announced its intention to spin-off products from its Women’s Health, trusted Legacy Brands, and Biosimilars businesses into a new independent, publicly-traded company. The spinoff will allow both management teams to drive increased responsiveness to the particular needs of their patients and customers and achieve faster growth through focused and fit-for-purpose operating models. Merck said in a statement that it will continue to benefit from strong growth across its current key pillars of Oncology, Vaccines, Hospital, and Animal Health.
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