Pharmaceuticals | Total revenues by division – Q3
The Merck Group has two business sectors – Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals – each of which consists of two divisions.
The Pharmaceuticals business sector’s divisions are Merck Serono for innovative prescription medicines and Consumer Health Care for over-the-counter pharmaceutical products. The Pharmaceuticals business sector generated 62% of the company’s total revenues and 58% of the Group operating result (excluding Corporate and Other) during the third quarter. Total revenues for the Pharmaceuticals sector increased by 5.3% to EUR 1,518 million during the third quarter.
The higher revenues recorded by the Pharmaceuticals business sector were due mainly to increased sales of the top products in the Merck Serono division, especially the biotechnology medicines Rebif® and Erbitux®. Despite higher costs for marketing and selling and commissions and royalties, the business sector’s third-quarter operating result increased 56% to EUR 226 million compared to the year-ago quarter due to lower costs for production and research and development.
IMS Health, the world’s leading provider of market intelligence for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, reported on October 6 that it expects the global pharmaceutical market to grow by 4% to 5% in 2010.