Earnings roundup: Merck, Lilly, Vertex
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK), Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTX) all reported 3Q16 earnings and corporate updates on Tuesday.
Merck raised its full-year 2016 guidance of adjusted EPS to $3.71-$3.78 from $3.67-$3.77. The company posted 3Q16 adjusted EPS of $1.07 on $10.54 billion in sales, topping consensus estimates of $0.99 per share on sales of $10.18 billion. Merck's 3Q16 earnings report came less than a day after FDA approved Merck's PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda pembrolizumab as a first-line therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors express PD-L1 at ≥50%. The drug is also approved to treat melanoma, and has accelerated approval in head and neck cancer (see BioCentury Extra, Oct. 24). ...