Sharjah24 - Reuters: On Thursday, Merck & Co. forecasted 2023 earnings below Wall Street expectations as well as an anticipated sharp reduction in sales of its COVID-19 antiviral therapy. As a result, its shares dropped by 2%.

The U.S. drugmaker did report a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on strong sales of the COVID pill molnupiravir in Asia and its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda.

But investors appear to be focused on the outlook for this year and shares were down about 2% at $104.95, after falling as low as $102.80 earlier on Thursday.

Merck forecast 2023 adjusted earnings of $6.80 to $6.95 per share, lower than analysts' average estimate of $7.36.

The forecast was impacted by a tax hit Merck will have to pay related to its $1.35 billion acquisition of cancer drug developer Imago BioSciences, the company said.

The company also sees a steep decline ahead for molnupiravir sales in 2023, dropping to around $1 billion from $5.68 billion in 2022. It forecast 2023 sales of $57.2 to $58.7 billion, down from $59.3 billion last year.

"Merck faces a more challenging 2023" as the 2022 boost in sales from molnupiravir rolls off, said Citi analyst Andrew Baum.