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Merck Shares Fall 27% As Arthritis Drug Pulled Amid Safety Concerns; Vioxx Was 11% Of Its Sales; '04 net may take 19% hit, and whole class of drugs could face more scrutiny.(A)
Byline: AMY REEVES
Merck pulled one of its best-selling drugs off the market Thursday and cut its 2004 earnings guidance, sending its stock into a slide.
The firm halted worldwide sales of Vioxx, the treatment for arthritis and menstrual pain that last year took in $2.5 billion, or 11% of total Merck sales.
The move will reduce earnings this year by 50 to 60 cents a share, Merck said. That will make them as much as 19% lower than Wall Street's consensus of $3.14. The stock plunged 12.07, or 27%, to 33.
At a press conference, officials said they acted on results from a three-year study. It showed increased risk of heart attack and stroke for patients who took Vioxx for more than 18 months.
Peter Kim, president of Merck Research Labs, said the findings had come in a week earlier, and the firm considered its options. Executives decided to withdraw the product entirely rather than sell it with a warning label.
"While acknowledging that many patients have benefited from Vioxx," said Kim, "we believe that the voluntary withdrawal that we are announcing today is in the best interest of patients."
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