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Merck facts and figures

By Times Staff Writer
Published February 18, 2007

Merck, by the numbers in 2006

61,500 Number of employees

8,000 Number of researchers

$3.8-billion Research budget

$22.6-billion Total revenues

$4.43-billion Net income

$2.03 Earnings per share

$2.36-$2.49 Estimated EPS, 2007

Fast Facts:

What is it? Merck & Co. is partnering with H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa to develop a cancer-tissue databank that will be run by a for-profit Moffitt subsidiary, M2Gen.

Who gets what? Moffitt gets a Big Pharma partner that will help speed development of the databank, which will contain genetic profiles of cancerous tumors as well as critical clinical information. Both Moffitt and Merck researchers will have access to the data to develop drugs, sharing future royalties.

Who pays what? Merck is contributing $65-million cash and $30-million in-kind services. Public funds include $15-million from the state, up to $28-million from Hillsborough County and $800,000 cash plus land valued at $1.2-million from the city of Tampa.

What's the status? Neither state nor county officials have approved their contributions to the incentive package. The site of M2Gen's new facility also has not yet been disclosed.

Vioxx update

Number of lawsuits filed: more than 27,000

Number of trials held: 18

Trials scheduled in 2007: 10

Scorecard: Merck has won nine trials, lost four, five were dismissed at trial; an additional 3,000 cases have also been dismissed

Merck's CEO Richard Clark on Vioxx: "Merck did nothing wrong. We have been transparent and provided information to the FDA as soon as we had it."

Merck time line

SEPT. 30, 2004: Merck pulls its $2.5-billion-a-year arthritis drug, Vioxx, off the market after evidence it increased risks of heart attacks and strokes; Merck's shares plunge 27 percent, wiping out $28-billion in market capitalization

MAY 2005: Richard T. Clark, a Merck insider, takes over as chief executive, replacing Raymond Gilmartin

JULY 2005: First Vioxx trial

NOV. 2005: Merck announces plans to cut more than 10,000 jobs

MAY 22, 2006: FDA approves Zostavax, a shingles vaccine

JUNE 2006: Zocor, with $4.4-billion in annual U.S. sales, loses patent protection

JULY 8, 2006: Gardasil, the first vaccine for cervical cancer, approved by FDA

OCT. 17, 2006: FDA approved Januvia, the first of a new class of drugs that fight Type 2 diabetes

Merck's best-selling drugs*

Singulair (respiratory): $3.6-billion

Cozaar/Hyzaar (hypertension): $3.2-billion

Fosamax (osteoporosis): $3.1-billion

Zocor (cholesterol): $2.8-billion**

* 2006 worldwide sales

** lost patent protection in U.S. June 2006

Merck's drug pipeline scorecard

New drugs approved by FDA in 2006: 5 (Januvia, Rotateq, Gardasil, Zostavax, Zolinga)

Submissions pending FDA approval: 3

Drugs to be submitted to FDA in 2007: 3 (HIV, insomnia, cholesterol)

Drugs in late-stage testing in 2007: 5

Drugs in Phase I and Phase II: 49

Source: Merck & Co. Inc.

[Last modified February 17, 2007, 18:41:54]