By Manas Mishra
July 30 (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc reportedbetter-than-expected second-quarter results on Tuesday andraised its full-year earnings forecast on strong demand for itsblockbuster cancer immunotherapy Keytruda and vaccines.
Merck shares rose 1.3% to $83.56 in afternoon trading.
Sales of Keytruda surged 58% to $2.63 billion in thequarter, ahead of Wall Street estimates for about $2.5 billion.
A run of positive clinical data for Keytruda and setbacksfor its biggest rival - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's Opdivo- has led to a dominant position for Merck's drug as an initialtreatment for advanced lung cancer, the most lucrative oncologymarket.
Keytruda, Merck's most important growth driver, has rackedup U.S. approvals to treat numerous cancer types since it wasfirst approved for advanced melanoma in 2014.
"We right now have built a wall of data that we feel verycomfortable with," Chief Commercial Officer Franklin Clyburnsaid on a conference call with analysts.
Some investors have raised concerns about Merckover-reliance on Keytruda and have looked for a large deal tolessen that dependence, along the lines of AbbVie's $63billion deal for Allergan Plc.
But analysts have forecast continued strong Keytruda growthfor several years.
Merck Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Frazier reiteratedthat Merck would focus on bolt-on deals "across the spectrum interms of size" rather than a large, transformative acquisition.
Sales of Merck's Gardasil vaccine to prevent cancersassociated with the human papillomavirus jumped 45.7% to $886million, helped by both demand and a U.S. price increase.
Overall vaccine sales rose 33% to $2 billion, also boostedby the company's measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shot amid the worstU.S. measles outbreak since 1992.
Sales of Merck's MMR and chicken pox vaccines rose 58% to$675 million in the quarter. Chief Financial Officer RobertDavis said he expects that business to grow, a forecast that isnot based on the assumption of additional outbreaks.
The U.S. drugmaker increased its forecast for 2019 adjustedearnings, raising the midpoint by 16 cents. Merck now expects toearn between $4.84 and $4.94 per share, up from its prior viewof $4.67 to $4.79.
Excluding items, Merck earned $1.30 per share, beating theaverage analysts' estimate by 14 cents, according to IBES datafrom Refinitiv.
Merck said net income for the quarter rose to $2.67 billion,or $1.03 per share, from $1.71 billion, or 63 cents per share, ayear earlier.
Sales rose 12.4% to $11.76 billion, beating Wall Streetestimates of $10.96 billion.(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Additional reportingby Michael Erman in New YorkEditing by Anil D'Silva and Bill Berkrot)