(MENAFN) US second largest drugmaker Merck & Co posted 1 percent increase in quarterly profits, helped by cost controls, Reuters reported.
The company said it made a USD1.74 billion net profit during the quarter, up from USD1.04 billion a year earlier. Revenue reached USD11.73 billion.
Results, however, were trimmed, as Merck's alliance with AstraZeneca generated a 42 percent fall in revenue to USD186 million, due to sharply lower sales of Nexium, and the timing of orders from AstraZeneca for the medicine.
Sales of the asthma treatment Singulair rose by 1 percent to USD1.34 billion in the quarter, slower than 8 percent growth achieved in the previous quarter.
Sales of Januvia diabetes medicine rose 24 percent to USD919 million, while a related treatment called Janumet soared 29 percent to USD392 million.
Merck is betting on the Januvia diabetes medicin, as it became the drugmaker's main source of growth, and its biggest hope of offsetting looming declines of Singulair.
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