Investors Disappointed as Merck & Co. Sales of Januvia and Remicade Fall Short
May 5, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
NEW YORK – Merck saw lower than expected sales of its diabetes treatment Januvia and arthritis medication Remicade during the first quarter of 2016, the company announced Wednesday. Overall, sales were down about 1 percent from the same quarter a year ago, to $9.3 billion.
The disappointing trend of Januvia, a DPP-4 inhibitor used to treat type 2 diabetes, continued during the new quarter. Sales slipped about 12 percent for the drug during the fourth quarter of 2015. During the first quarter, Januvia actually saw a slight increase in sales, but it fell shy by about $30 million of Wall Street expectations, Reuters reported this morning. The culprits in Januvia’s slip seems to be SGLT-2 inhibitors, such as Eli Lilly ’s Jardiance. One of the side effects of SGLT-2 inhibitors seems to be weight loss and the lowering of systolic blood pressure, which are key issues associated with diabetes. Jardiance has shown to be highly effective at reducing the risk of the combined endpoint of cardiovascular (CV) death, non-fatal heart attack or non-fatal stroke by 14 percent when added to standard of care, in patients with type 2 diabetes. Lilly is co-developing Jardiance with Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim. In trials the drug has shown a 38 percent reduction in cardiovascular deaths, the companies said in September.
In addition to Januvia’s failure to meet expectations, Merck’s Remicade fell short of Wall Street forecasts by $25 million. The drug generated $349 million in revenue, Reuters reported.
Disappointing figures in lynchpin products like Januvia and Remicade will likely limit near-term growth opportunities, Vamil Divan, an analysts with Credit Suisse, told Reuters.
While Januviia and Remicade did not live up to economic prognostication, Merck does have some bright spots with cancer drug Keytruda and its recently approved hepatitis C drug, Zepatier. Keytruda saw sales jump to $249 million over $83 million compared to last year. However, Reuters noted that Keytruda is lagging behind compared to Bristol-Myers ’ Opdivo. Both drugs work by inhibiting the cellular pathway known as PD-1 protein on cells that blocks the body’s immune system from attacking cancerous cells. However, Opdivo has an advantage over Keytruda, which requires patients pass a regulatory diagnostic before being prescribed the medication. Merck’s Roger M. Perlmutter, president of Merck Research Laboratories said the company continues to accelerate the development of Keytruda with an “additional supplemental filing in head and neck cancer, and by securing a fourth Breakthrough Therapy Designation in classical Hodgkin lymphoma.”
Merck’s recently approved hepatitis C drug, Zepatier was granted breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 infection in patients with end stage renal disease on hemodialysis and for the treatment of chronic HCV genotype 4 infection. The drug could cut into Gilead Sciences ’ hold on the hepatitis C market due to its price point, which is about $40,000 less than Gilead's Harvoni, the Motley Fool noted.
Another bright spot Merck reported was the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted the Biologics License Application for MK-8237, the company’s investigational house dust mite sublingual allergy immunotherapy tablet. Shares of Merck are down this morning, trading at $53.76 per share. Online investment advisory firm Zacks ranks Merck as a hold.