Merck & Co. retains second place on the 2026 Global Pharmaceutical Innovation Index, while rising two places to fifth on the Invention Index. Its performance combines continued financial resilience with strong regulatory execution, particularly in oncology.

Full-year sales were $65 billion, with oncology growth driven by Keytruda (pembrolizumab), which grew approximately 7% to $31.7 billion. Growing contributions from Winrevair (sotatercept) in pulmonary arterial hypertension and Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine) in COPD added further momentum, partially offset by declines in Gardasil.

Keytruda continues to expand across indications and formulations, with FDA and European Commission (EC) approvals for its use as a perioperative regimen in resectable locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Keytruda QLEX, the subcutaneous formulation, has also received FDA and EC approvals across all approved adult EU indications, supported by Phase 3 data demonstrating comparable efficacy with intravenous Keytruda alongside meaningful reductions in patient chair time. In muscle-invasive bladder cancer, Keytruda plus Padcev (enfortumab vedotin) delivered positive Phase 3 results in both cisplatin-ineligible and cisplatin-eligible patients.

Winrevair (sotatercept) continues to demonstrate strong momentum in pulmonary arterial hypertension. ZENITH showed a 76% reduction in relative risk of major morbidity and mortality events in high-risk patients, supporting an FDA label update. HYPERION met its primary endpoint in recently diagnosed patients, while CADENCE extended development into combined post- and precapillary pulmonary hypertension due to HFpEF. The acquisition of Verona Pharma added Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine), a first-in- class dual PDE3/4 inhibitor, to Merck’s cardiopulmonary portfolio.