Merck, now No. 2 drugmaker, set for future buys

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. (AP) - The new Merck & Co. becomes the world's second-biggest drugmaker overnight, and it's boasting a fat wallet to fund future deals.

That's after the maker of vaccines and cholesterol and diabetes drugs bought Schering-Plough Corp. yesterday for $41.1 billion. Merck leapfrogged from No. 8 to No. 2 in the industry by revenue.

The company has about $8 billion in cash and investments and plans to keep investing in deals for rights to new drugs.

Merck says combining the companies - and slimming down the resulting staff of 106,000 employees - will save about $3.5 billion a year after 2011. But it expects the acquisition to boost profits slightly by next year and is forecasting profit growth in the high single digits for the next several years.