Merck & Co highlights pipeline progress; plans eight US filings in 2012-

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK) hosted an upbeat R&D and Business Briefing yesterday, where it announced an 11% increase to $0.42 in its quarterly dividend payment, the first time in seven years and seeing the firm’s shares rise 3.5% to $34.97, compared with a 1% gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

At the meeting with analysts, president and chief executive Kenneth Frazier said: "Innovation is the centerpiece of our growth strategy at Merck. We continue to make significant progress on our strategy to drive growth from our existing portfolio and to bring forward breakthrough medicines and vaccines that address unmet medical needs and return significant value to our shareholders."

Also, Peter Kim, president of Merck Research Laboratories, four of the company's therapeutic area research franchise heads, and the president of Merck BioVentures provided an overview of candidates in development and progress in advancing the company's pipeline. Merck has 19 candidates in Phase III clinical trials targeting a broad range of diseases. The company plans to submit eight new US filings in 2012-2013, including five new candidates: Tredaptive [ER niacin/laropiprant] (for atherosclerosis), suvorexant (for insomnia), odanacatib (for osteoporosis), V503 (a cervical cancer vaccine) and Bridon (sugammadex; for reversal of neuromuscular blockade).