Merck meets Street estimate

MRK reported second quarter EPS of $0.79, in line with Street's estimate and flat compared to EPS from continuing operations in the same period last year. MRK's second quarter 2003 figure excludes numbers from Medco, which the pharma company spun out in August.

Second quarter sales were $6 billion, up 9% from $5.5 billion in 2003. Cholesterol drug Zocor posted sales of $1.4 billion. Also on the cholesterol drug front, Zetia from MRK and partner Schering-Plough (SGP) had second quarter sales of $242 million. ...