Investopedia: More To Merck Than Meets The Eye?

The past few years have been a rough stretch for pharmaceutical companies, as patent expirations and a lack of exciting new products have led to lower revenue growth, rampant mergers and extensive restructuring. With a relatively manageable patent cliff and some interesting new products, Merck (NYSE:MRK) may be worth a second look from value-oriented investors.

A Solid Franchise in Cardiology and Inflammatory Disease
Like virtually all of the major pharmaceutical companies, Merck sells a large number of branded pharmaceuticals but focuses most of its attention on a few particular segments. For Merck those areas of focus include cardiology (with drugs like Zetia and Vytorin), immunology (Singular and Remicade) and diabetes (Januvia and Janumet).

Although Merck has had some issues developing its own late-stage pipeline, the acquisition of Schering-Plough helped address some of those issues. At the same time, the company has restructured its operations and in doing so it has given its salesforce the ability to act with more independence - a move that could pay dividends in the long run.

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