On February 1st, MSD announced its 2023 performance. The company achieved a revenue of 60.115 billion US dollars throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 1%; After deducting the influence of COVID-19 oral drug Lagevrio (Monoclavir), the year-on-year growth rate was 9%.
MSD's pharmaceutical business revenue was 53.583 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 3%. Among them, the revenue from the China region is 6.71 billion US dollars, accounting for 12.5% of Merck's global market share, a year-on-year increase of 32%.
The flagship variety Keytruda (pembrolizumab) achieved a total annual revenue of 25.011 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 19%, and became the "king of medicine" in 2023. The HPV vaccine Gardasil/Gardasil 9 benefited from strong demand in the Chinese market, with sales reaching $8.886 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29%.
In 2023, Merck's R&D investment reached as high as $30.531 billion, equivalent to half of its 2023 revenue being used for research and development, with related costs resulting solely from acquisitions and divestitures reaching $8.19 billion. And its R&D investment in 2022 was only 13.548 billion US dollars. In 2023, MSD launched more than 20 Phase III research projects, including 8 new assets that entered Phase III for the first time in 2023.
Merck has also made an outlook on its performance for 2024, with an expected annual revenue of $62.6-64.2 billion.