Next year may not be Merck's
It kind of looks like every other pharmaceutical company's plan. But with a twist.
With increasing generic competition and languishing sales of cholesterol-lowering drugs Vytorin and Zetia, which it markets with Schering-Plough
Like GlaxoSmithKline
The big surprise from Tuesday's meeting with analysts is that Merck plans to get into follow-on biologics (biologics are drugs made from cells, rather than chemical processes). The company is behind Teva Pharmaceutical
I'm having trouble being a Merck bull because I can't see any near-term catalyst to help the company break out of its funk. But long term, investors should remember that this company recovered from losing Vioxx, and it'll likely get back to greatness again -- eventually.