Merck’s newly authorized molnupiravir treatment logged sales of $952 million in the fourth quarter, the first period when the drug contributed revenue. Meanwhile, sales of Covid-19 antibodies for Lilly grew by 22% year over year to $1.06 billion, although the company is now facing new restrictions on how they are used against the Omicron variant.
Those trends added to overall sales growth for both companies—with Merck posting a 24% increase—producing adjusted earnings results that beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations. Both companies’ shares were down in afternoon trading Thursday.
Merck’s and Lilly’s Covid-19 drug sales reflect how the rise and fall of the variants behind successive waves of the pandemic have forced changes to treatment approaches. Merck said it expects sales this year of $5 billion to $6 billion from molnupiravir, a treatment taken at…
