Pharmaceuticals business sector

The Merck Group operates in two major business sectors – Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals – each of which consists of two divisions.

The Pharmaceuticals business sector’s divisions are Merck Serono for innovative prescription drugs and Consumer Health Care for over-the-counter self-medication products. The Pharmaceuticals business sector generated 72% of the company’s total revenues and 52% of the Group operating result (without Corporate and Other) during the first quarter. Total revenues for the Pharmaceuticals sector increased by 6.5% to EUR 1,514 million during the first quarter.

The higher revenues recorded by Merck’s Pharmaceuticals business sector in the first quarter are due to increased sales of the top products in the Merck Serono division, especially the biotech medicines Rebif® and Erbitux®. However, higher royalty and commission expenses on sales of these products plus other operating expenses and higher research and development costs led to a 2.2% decline in the business sector’s operating result to EUR 180 million.

IMS Health, the world’s leading provider of market intelligence for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, said on April 20 that it expects the global pharmaceutical market to grow by 4% to 6% in 2010. IMS said the global market grew by 7.0% in 2009.