Merck to spin off new $6.5 billion firm focused on women’s health, older drugs

Merck said Wednesday that it will create a new drug company to sell many of its older, slower-growth products, creating a new pharmaceutical company with $6.5 billion in annual sales focused largely on women’s health drugs like Nexplanon, a long-acting contraceptive implant. It will also sell Merck’s off-patent medicines, including the cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin.