Merck looks ahead to a COVID-19 drug and vaccine—and a Gardasil recovery—as pandemic takes a $2.5B toll

The pharma giant said Tuesday that COVID-19 would take a $2.5 billion bite out of its 2020 revenue, more than the $1.9 billion it had previously predicted. Growth in drugs that didn’t take a pandemic hit has softened that blow. In a quote-unquote normal year, though, Merck might be reporting sales growth of 8% to 10%, not the 1% it posted for Q3.