Latest news with #BelenGarijo
Bloomberg
07-08-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Merck Is Latest Drugmaker to Weigh Direct US Patient Sales
Merck KGaA is considering selling medicines directly to patients in the US, joining drugmakers seeking to bypass middlemen following President Donald Trump's demand for lower drug prices in the country. 'The direct-to-patient sales in the US is an option,' Chief Executive Officer Belen Garijo said on a call with journalists Thursday. 'We have not yet started to put that in practice and it will depend on the products we are talking about.'
Reuters
07-08-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Merck KGaA is looking into direct distribution to U.S. patients
FRANKFURT, Aug 7 (Reuters) - German drugmaker Merck KGaA ( opens new tab on Thursday joined peers in saying it was considering distribution models that serve U.S. patients directly if the government goes ahead with plans to slash drug prices to align with lower levels in other countries. President Donald Trump has ramped up efforts to cut prescription drug prices through a "most-favored-nation" (MFN) policy, aiming to align domestic prices with the lowest levels paid by comparable high-income countries. "Direct-to-patient sales is an option in our plans if MFN is implemented," CEO Belen Garijo said in a media call after the release of quarterly results. "There is a significant cost burden associated (with) the distribution of medicines in the U.S., so anything that we can do to alleviate the burden to the patient is something that we will contemplate," she added.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Merck KGaA to Buy Springworks for $3.9B
German pharma company Merck is buying US biotech SpringWorks Therapeutics for $3.9B. SpringWorks makes medicines for cancer and rare diseases and is expected to give a boost to Merck's health-care division. Belen Garijo, Merck KGaA CEO joined Bloomberg Open Interest to talk about the deal. Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
28-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Merck KGaA to Buy Springworks for $3.9B
German pharma company Merck is buying US biotech SpringWorks Therapeutics for $3.9B. SpringWorks makes medicines for cancer and rare diseases and is expected to give a boost to Merck's health-care division. Belen Garijo, Merck KGaA CEO joined Bloomberg Open Interest to talk about the deal. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Merck KGaA (MKGAF) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Organic Growth and Strategic ...
Organic Sales Growth (Q4 2024): 4% for the group. Healthcare Organic Sales Growth (Q4 2024): 7%. Life Science Organic Sales Growth (Q4 2024): 2%. Electronics Organic Sales Growth (Q4 2024): 2%. EBITDA Pre Growth (Q4 2024): 20% organically. Proposed Dividend: EUR2.20 per share. Full Year 2024 Net Sales: EUR21.16 billion. Full Year 2024 EBITDA Pre: EUR6.07 billion. Full Year 2024 EPS Pre: EUR8.63 per share. Operating Cash Flow (Full Year 2024): EUR4.59 billion. Net Debt (End of 2024): EUR7.16 billion. Life Science EBITDA Pre Margin (Q4 2024): 29.4%. Healthcare EBITDA Pre Margin (Q4 2024): 35.4%. Electronics EBITDA Pre Margin (Q4 2024): 25.6%. Guidance for 2025 Sales: EUR21.5 billion to EUR22.9 billion. Guidance for 2025 EBITDA Pre: EUR6.1 billion to EUR6.6 billion. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with MKGAF. Release Date: March 06, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Merck KGaA (MKGAF) delivered on its guidance and returned to profitable growth in 2024, with all three sectors contributing to the strong performance. Healthcare sector showed strong organic sales growth of 7%, driven by oncology portfolio and CM&E portfolio. Life Science sector returned to organic growth with a 2% increase in Q4, supported by strong order intake in Process Solutions. Electronics sector experienced organic sales growth of 2% in Q4, driven by AI-related demand in Semiconductor Solutions. The company improved its net leverage despite significant investments in CapEx and M&A during 2024, demonstrating strong cash generation. Non-repeat COVID-19-related sales fell to negligible levels, resulting in a 3% organic sales decline in Life Science for 2024. The Display Solutions segment in Electronics saw a 3% organic sales decline due to a decrease in general liquid crystals applications. FX represented a headwind of minus 0.5% on sales, particularly impacting the Healthcare sector. The NIH funding exposure and potential cuts could impact the Life Science segment, particularly the SLS segment. The broader semiconductor market has not yet fully recovered, with timing for a general market inflection remaining challenging to predict. Q: Can you discuss the impact of NIH funding on Life Science and the effect of tariffs on your supply chain? A: Matthias Heinzel, CEO of Life Science, explained that NIH funding impacts about 5% of total Life Science sales. While potential cuts could affect buying behaviors, it's too early to predict the exact impact. Regarding tariffs, Merck has adopted an in-region, for-region strategy, with a strong US footprint and over 20 plants, allowing flexibility in production to mitigate tariff impacts. Q: What is Merck's strategy for business development and capital allocation, particularly in Healthcare? A: Belen Garijo, CEO, stated that Merck prioritizes Life Science M&A, allocating substantial capital to this sector. In Healthcare, the focus is on accelerating external innovation through later-stage in-licensing, with potential for smaller, low-risk M&A deals that create early value. Q: How do you expect Life Science orders to develop in 2025, and what is the outlook for Process Solutions? A: Matthias Heinzel noted strong Q4 order momentum, with expectations for continued sequential growth in 2025. While Q1 might see seasonal variations, the overall trend is positive, with Process Solutions driving growth. Q: Can you elaborate on the potential impact of new investments on Life Science margins? A: Matthias Heinzel mentioned that new CapEx projects, like the membrane line in Darmstadt, will initially incur start-up costs, impacting margins. However, the goal is margin expansion, with increased R&D spend seen as an investment for future growth. Q: What are the expectations for Bavencio sales in the US and globally in 2025? A: Peter Guenter, CEO of Healthcare, indicated that while platinum use is stabilizing in the US, Bavencio sales are not expected to stabilize immediately. In Europe, growth is slowing due to competition, and a more challenging environment is anticipated in 2025. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
