Merck Profit Falls Amid CompetitionMerck & Co.’s...

Merck Profit Falls Amid Competition

Merck & Co.’s second-quarter profit fell 3.6% as the second-largest U.S. drug maker’s costs rose faster than sales, which were hurt by competition from generic versions of its hypertension and heartburn drugs.

Net income fell to $1.75 billion, or 77 cents a share. Revenue rose 7.7% to $12.8 billion, helped by better-than-expected sales of its painkiller Vioxx, the company said.

Merck’s materials and production costs rose 15%, while generic competition eroded sales of older products such as the heartburn drug Pepcid and hypertension treatment Vasotec. Higher sales of Vioxx and Merck’s top-selling cholesterol drug, Zocor, helped limit the profit decline.

Shares of Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck fell 50 cents to $41.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.