Merck KGaA reports strong sales in first half
Boosted by Rebif and Erbitux
German pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck KGaA reported total revenues of €2.2bn (+16%) in the second quarter as all four divisions recorded increases. In the first half of 2010, total revenues rose 14% to €4.3bn.
Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 76% to €325m in Q2. First-half EBIT nearly doubled to €620m.
Total revenues for the pharmaceuticals business sector increased by 9.9% to €1.6bn during the second quarter and by 8.2% to €3.1m in the first half of the year. This sector generated 71% of the company’s total revenues during the second quarter. The operating result rose by 17% to €158m in Q2 and by 6% in the first half to €338m.
Merck Serono’s total revenues increased 10% to €1.4bn in the second quarter of 2010 compared with €1.3bn in the same quarter in 2009, boosted by strong sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Rebif and cancer treatment Erbitux.
Regionally, sales rose significantly in China, Japan and Latin America.
Merck Serono’s research and development costs declined by 2% to €296m in Q2. The division’s r&d costs continue to be just over 20% of total revenues due to a large number of late-stage clinical trials.
Earlier this week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a filing for multiple sclerosis treatment cladribine and granted it a priority review, which reduces the review period to six months, compared with the standard 10 months.
Russian health authorities granted marketing authorisation for cladribine under the trade name Movectro this month. This was the first approval in the world of an oral treatment for MS.
Merck completed the acquisition of US life science company Millipore on 14 July for €5.2bn.
‘The pleasing results of the second quarter, with total revenues well over two billion euros, show that our excellent first quarter was setting the course for the year,’ said Dr Karl-Ludwig Kley, chairman of the executive board of Merck KGaA.
‘Therefore, we feel comfortable to again raise our guidance for 2010 and now expect the Merck Group, including Millipore, to increase total revenues by 21% and the operating result by 90%.’