Merck gives shareholders rosy forecast

Merck gives shareholders rosy forecast

	Published : Tue, 24 Apr 2007 23:01 By : Agencies Print this Story

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Merck & Co. executives told shareholders Tuesday they will keep trying to get a successor to withdrawn painkiller Vioxx on the U.S. market and that the company's stable of drugs in late-stage testing will bring another big wave of product approvals.

Peter S. Kim, president of Merck Research Laboratories, told the shareholders Merck has gotten six new drugs or vaccines approved since January 2006, and could seek approval in the next couple years for experimental drugs for cholesterol problems, obesity, osteoporosis and other diseases.

Meanwhile, stockholders strongly signaled they want a say in executive pay at the Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based company, even if it's only a recommendation.

Preliminary vote results announced at the drug maker's annual meeting in North Branch, N.J., showed 49.2 percent of the proxies voted supported a shareholder proposal to give stockholders a nonbinding annual vote on the pay package of top executives. A simple majority was needed to pass, meaning it missed by less than 1 percent.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations submitted the proposal. A union official told Chief Executive Officer Richard Clark the provision 'would allow shareholders to weigh in' and would echo changes in Britain, Australia and other countries that now require giving stockholders some voice.

Clark received salary, stock and other compensation last year valued at $8.04 million.

During the meeting, he was asked what the company would do if the proposal passed.

'Depending on how the vote comes out, we will certainly go back and evaluate it,' Clark said.

Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose said afterward she could not say how the board would respond to the close vote.

A second shareholder proposal, to require the company to publicly report all money spent on lobbying and political contributions, failed, getting less than 4 percent of votes cast.

Shareholders did support election of Clark and the other nine board members on the company's slate and also approved a few company-sponsored proposals; those were mainly to require only a simple majority of shareholders, rather than the current 80 percent, to remove a board member or approve major changes such as a merger.

Kim said the company was disappointed the Food and Drug Administration two weeks ago denied approval of Merck's Arcoxia, the arthritis and pain treatment developed to succeed Vioxx. Merck pulled Vioxx from the market in September 2004 because it increases risk of heart attack and strokes, triggering an avalanche of lawsuits and a nosedive for Merck's stock price.

The stock has since bounced back and Arcoxia is on sale in 63 other countries.

'There is more long-term safety data on Arcoxia than' other drugs in the same class and traditional anti-inflammatory medicines, Kim told the audience of nearly 300 people. 'We are committed to working with the FDA to determine the best approach.'

Later, an audience member asked why the company doesn't try to get Vioxx back on the market. Clark replied that the company gets many letters from patients who relied on Vioxx for pain relief, but Merck 'will work with the FDA on the future of Arcoxia first.'