TRENTON, N.J. (AP) —
Merck & Co. CEO Kenneth Frazier told company shareholders on Tuesday
that 2012 and 2013 will be difficult years, but he's confident the
company can weather them.
Speaking at the company's annual
meeting, Frazier noted the drugmaker's top seller, asthma and allergy
drug Singulair, gets U.S. generic competition soon. The Aug. 3 patent
expiration will sharply reduce revenue from Singulair, which brought in
$5.5 billion last year.
"There's little doubt that the global economy will remain uncertain," Frazier added.
But
he said Merck has a history of overcoming big patent expirations by
developing new medicines and increasing sales of existing ones.
Merck
did so when generic competition hit for two prior bestsellers,
osteoporosis drug Fosamax in February 2008 and cholesterol pill Zocor in
June 2006. This time, the pharmaceutical industry is facing new
challenges, including less-productive research operations and foreign
government health programs pushing for lower drug prices, particularly
in Europe.
Frazier noted the company's Januvia family of diabetes
pills has become No. 1 worldwide among branded diabetes medicines. It's
been buoyed by the approvals last year of Juvisync, the first combo pill
for people with diabetes and cholesterol problems, and of an extended
release form of Janumet, which combines Januvia with widely used generic
diabetes pill metformin. Merck also got approval, last spring, for
Victrelis, which improves the cure rate for tough-to-treat hepatitis C.
Also
at the meeting, Merck shareholders backed the compensation of its
executive officers in a nonbinding advisory vote, with a preliminary
vote total indicating 97 percent approved.
Frazier, who is Merck's
president and chairman, received total compensation of about $13.35
million last year, according to a company regulatory filing. Richard T.
Clark, who stepped down as Merck's CEO on Jan. 1, 2011, but remained
board chairman through Nov. 30, received total compensation of $14.73
million, about 60 percent of that in stock awards, according to the
filing.
Merck stockholders also voted down three shareholder proposals, all opposed by management.
One
would have given holders of a minimum number of shares written consent
to authorize action outside annual meetings. It drew support from 45
percent of shares voted, based on a preliminary total. Another, which
would have given holders of at least one-tenth of outstanding shares the
power to call a special meeting, drew support from 33.6 percent of
shares voted.
The third would have required Merck to prepare an
annual review of all of its charitable and political contributions and
report on how they serve corporate policy. That one drew support from
only 3.8 percent of shares voted.
Meanwhile, all board members were elected and Merck's accounting firm, Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP, was approved.
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Linda A. Johnson can be followed at http://twitter.com/LindaJ_onPharma
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.