Today, we break down one of the world's largest and oldest pharmaceutical companies, Merck.
From humble beginnings as a small family pharmacy in Germany, Merck is now a $260 billion market cap business.
Keytruda, arguably the world's most important cancer drug, is at the heart of Merck's recent success. This single medication now generates over $25 billion in annual revenue—nearly 50% of Merck's total revenue.
Merck's future will depend on its ability to navigate an ensuing patent cliff for Keytruda in 2028, but the company's story is not only about Keytruda.
It's about a business that has consistently pursued innovative science combined with a handful of bold decisions that resulted in the development of some of the world's first vaccines and breakthroughs in diabetes treatment.
It's also a story about the high-stakes world of drug development, where billions are spent on research and patents are fought over the world's next blockbuster drugs.
To break down Merck, @zbfuss is joined by @varma_ashwin97.
Help us spread the word on an important new role:
We are hiring an Editor in Chief at @joincolossus. Our podcasts reach ~8m unique people a year and the scope of our ambition is growing.
We are building a platform to find and shine a light on the most interesting people and ideas on the frontiers of business and investing.
That'll include perpetual improvements on our existing shows, exploring new formats (there's already a print publication in the works!), and lots of experiments (content, guests, marketing, new shows)–always with an ear to our audience.
The right Editor in Chief will push our pace getting there while keeping our quality bar high and our voice consistent.
The only requirements are an incredible passion for business and investing, excellent taste, and serious operational chops.
You will work very hard. You will build a team. You will meet incredibly interesting people along the way. Your work will be an expression of your standards and interests. And, if we're doing our jobs, you will stoke curiosity and agency in millions of people.
Apply here: https://t.co/FMioWsJwMM
Must be based in NY, SF, Seattle. Some travel is required in all cases.
We started @bizbreakdowns because we wanted in-depth explorations of companies that most piqued our curiosity.
We wanted them to be detailed AND entertaining. We think every business has something to teach us.
Here’s a recap of the companies we’ve explored so far this year:
@BillBrewsterTBB Preference would be both levered and unlevered ROI metrics. Hopefully the management team is looking to solve for the highest returning projects and then using a capital structure that drives a stronger ROE without putting the business at risk. Two somewhat separate decisions
@tclaugus2 Herdez, Gruma and Sigma (via Alfa) are all great Mexican based food businesses with increasing exposure to North America. Eventually should probably be US listed without an ADR
In the fall, John Deere will start selling its fully autonomous 8R tractor, which can gather data about the soil to improve its algorithms as it operates (@willknight / Wired)
https://t.co/sQ0h6kljkE
https://t.co/WKmo8qda4V