Germany's Merck tweaks mid-term healthcare unit guidance

German pharmaceuticals and technology company Merck KGaA MRK slightly improved its mid-term guidance for its healthcare business ahead of its capital markets day on Thursday.

Merck now expects mid-term annual organic sales growth in the low- to mid single-digit percentage range for its healthcare business, having guided for "slight growth" last year. It expects mid-to-high single-digit percentage growth for Life Science, after guiding for 7% to 9% last year.

The company also confirmed that it is aiming to achieve net sales between around 20.5 to 21.7 billion euros in 2025, a target it has cut twice this year.

This is far below the 25 billion euros the Darmstadt-based firm had previously guided for at its capital markets day in 2021.

"We had made a number of assumptions on the pandemic that never materialized," Merck's Chief Executive Belen Garijo said in an interview.

The company's life science business was affected by a "Covid cliff" where mRNA vaccines were not in demand for as long as expected, she said.