Merck (MRK) announced that it started the phase IIb/III BRUNELLO study on Restoret (MK-3000), a novel investigational Wnt agonist antibody, to treat diabetic macular edema (DME).This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of two dose levels (high and low doses) of the drug compared with Roche’s (RHHBY) Lucentis (ranibizumab) in patients with DME.Restoret was added to Merck’s pipeline after it completed the acquisition of London-based private biotech EyeBio for around $1.3 billion in July. Following thi ...

Is the healthcare stock an underrated buy right now?Merck (MRK -0.67%) is a top pharmaceutical company coming off a good quarter that shows it is growing its top and bottom lines. Even with that growth, the stock still trades at a fairly modest valuation. Its stock price is up 5.3% this year, compared with 16% growth for the S&P 500.Why isn't Merck's stock doing better in 2024?More importantly, could this healthcare company make for a good investment today?Merck is still heavily reliant on KeytrudaWhen a ph ...

Merck (MRK) announced that the European Commission has granted approval to a combination regimen of its blockbuster PD-L1 inhibitor, Keytruda, for expanded use in a type of bladder cancer. The approval is for Keytruda in combination with Astellas/Pfizer’s (PFE) antibody-drug conjugate Padcev for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, a type of bladder cancer.The approval was expected as, in July, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of ...

JHVEPhotoMerck (NYSE:MRK) has been a strong performer within the Pharma space over the last several years, but is down this summer, following earnings and full-year profit guidance cut. Despite this, Merck remains one of the stronger performers among large healthcare equities, and is likely to return to all-time highs within the next several quarters, and potentially within 2024. There are multiple reasons for the reduced profit guidance, including the slowing growth seen by versions Gardasil, its Human ...

Merck (MRK) decided to discontinue two separate phase III studies, KEYNOTE-867 and KEYNOTE-630, evaluating its blockbuster drug Keytruda in patients with certain types of lung cancer and skin cancer, respectively.Merck took the decision based on the recommendations of an independent data monitoring committee (IDMC), which reviewed the interim data on both studies and concluded that the therapy’s risk/benefit profile did not support continuing either of the studies.Merck’s Lung Cancer Study Fails to Meet Goa ...

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Merck (MRK) . Shares have added about 3.8% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Merck due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. Q2 Earnings & Sales Beat Estimates, Guidance CutMerck’s second-qua ...

Merck (MRK) announced that it has initiated a phase III called Shorespan-007 study on its lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) inhibitor, bomedemstat, for the treatment of patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET) who have previously not received cytoreductive therapy.The pivotal phase III study is evaluating bomedemstat versus hydroxyurea, the current standard of care chemotherapy, for treating patients with ET, a chronic, rare blood disorder that is the most common type of myeloproliferative neoplasm ( ...

Merck (MRK) announced that the European Commission has granted approval to its novel activin signaling inhibitor, Winrevair (sotatercept), for treating adult patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Winrevair can now be prescribed to treat PAH in adult patients with World Health Organization (WHO) Functional Class (FC) II to III in the EU in combination with other PAH therapies. Winrevair becomes the first novel activin signaling inhibitor therapy approved in Europe to treat PAH.The approval was ...

Merck’s (MRK) stock has declined 10% in the past three months against an increase of 9% for the industry. The stock has also underperformed the sector and S&P 500 index, as seen in the chart below.Merck Stock Underperforms Industry, Sector & S&P 500Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchMerck’s stock started declining after the company announced second-quarter results on Jul 25. Though the company beat earnings and sales estimates and also slightly raised the full-year guidance for revenues, the stock took ...

Merck (MRK) is one of the stocks most watched by Zacks.com visitors lately. So, it might be a good idea to review some of the factors that might affect the near-term performance of the stock.Over the past month, shares of this pharmaceutical company have returned -7.4%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.3% change. During this period, the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry, which Merck falls in, has gained 5.7%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?Although med ...