Merck Matches Estimates

Merck said Thursday that third-quarter earnings rose 8% to 84 cents a share, although the No. 3 drugmaker continues to struggle with sluggish sales of its lead arthritis drug, Vioxx.

Net income for the third quarter totaled $1.94 billion, or 84 cents per share, compared to $1.84 billion, or 78 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. This matched Wall Street consensus estimates, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

But Merck warned Thursday that 2001 Vioxx sales would be lower than previously expected. The drugmaker now expects sales in the range of $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion, compared to a previous estimate of around $3 billion.

In the third quarter, Vioxx sales rose 29% to $795 million, compared to the third quarter last year. That is quite a slowdown compared to the 53% sales growth racked up in the second quarter.

Vioxx sales have been hurting since this summer, when a well-publicized article in the Journal of the American Medical Association called for a major study of so-called Cox-2 inhibitors because of evidence that the drugs might increase the risk of heart attack and strokes. Sales of Celebrex, another Cox-2 drug made by Pharmacia, have also been hit. Insurers and managed care companies have also been reluctant to pay for the expensive drug, choosing instead to push cheaper generics.

Overall, Merck reported third-quarter net sales of $11.9 billion, an increase of 13% over the third quarter last year. Human health sales, the term Merck uses to describe prescription drug sales, rose 6% in the third quarter compared with last year.

Zocor, the company's top-selling cholesterol drug, posted third-quarter sales of $1.7 billion, a 28% rise over the third quarter last year.

Merck shares closed Wednesday at $69.05.