Merck lowers mid-term healthcare outlook after recent drug failures

Oct 17 (Reuters) – German science and technology company Merck lowered mid-term targets for its Life Sciences and Healthcare businesses, anticipating an update on China’s growth prospects and following a string of setbacks in its drug development.

The company narrowed expectations for its Life Science business, aiming for a 7-9% range from a previously anticipated 7-10%, it said in a statement.

Merck also changed the outlook for its Healthcare business to “slight growth”, compared to a previously expected mid-single-digit percentage range, due to “recently announced pipeline setbacks”, the statement said.

The company has reported a string of setbacks in the development of cancer and multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs in recent years.

Merck however raised the mid-term outlook for its electronics division to a 5-9% range from a previous 3-6%, benefiting from high demands of chips for AI applications. (Reporting by Tristan Veyet and Marleen Kaesebier in Gdansk, editing by Rachel More)

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