Shares in the pharma giant Merck (MRK) are up 2.8% to $90.12 after the company announced positive late-stage trial results on a new heart drug called Sotatercept. The news means that the chances of a final FDA approval for the drug in 2024 have improved significantly.

Sales and profits at Merck are rising fast at the moment, and much of that rise is down to the very strong performance of Keytruda, a blockbuster cancer drug. Keytruda generated sales of $17.1 billion in 2021 – 35% of Merck’s total revenue. However, Keytruda’s patents will start to expire in 2028, so Merck needs new drugs like Sotartecept to come through over the next few years.

If you’re confident that Merck can do that, then Merck’s financial metrics look attractive – it has a 3% dividend yield and is trading on only 11 times earnings.

US stock market movers on Monday 10 October 2022