Merck Continues to Deliver Growth in Turbulent Times
The company remains confident it will deliver sustainable growth for the year
Merck continued to grow across all three business sectors in the first quarter of 2025. In the Life Science sector, Process Solutions reclaimed its position as the main growth driver amid noticeably recovering demand. The Healthcare sector saw strong sales in the Cardiovascular, Metabolism, and Endocrinology franchise. And Electronics continued to benefit from steady and strong demand for semiconductor materials.
Merck KGaA
Group net sales rose to € 5.3 billion in the first quarter of 2025, up 2.5% organically compared with the year-earlier quarter. EBITDA pre came in at € 1.5 billion, up 5.8% organically year-on-year. At 29.1%, the EBITDA pre margin expanded by 0.7 percentage points compared with the first quarter of 2024. This was due to temporarily reduced research and development expenses in Healthcare and strict cost discipline across the Group. Earnings per share pre improved from € 2.06 to € 2.12.
“Our solid first-quarter results underscore the resilience of our dynamic, innovation-driven business and our region-for-region approach. I am particularly pleased that Process Solutions has performed strongly, accelerating growth for Life Science. We continue to resolutely execute our strategy, driving efficient and profitable growth. In response to the challenging global backdrop, we've slightly adjusted our guidance but continue to remain confident that we are well-positioned to achieve sustainable growth for 2025 and beyond,” said Belén Garijo, Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck. “As we navigate the complexities of today’s world, we remain committed to reinforcing our position as a globally diversified pioneer in science and technology. Our recently announced agreement to acquire SpringWorks Therapeutics is a strong proof point to this approach.”
On April 28, 2025, Merck announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly listed Stamford, Connecticut-based commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on severe rare diseases and cancer. The transaction’s purchase price of US$ 47 per share in cash represents an enterprise value of US$ 3.4 billion (€ 3.0 billion), or an equity value of approximately US$ 3.9 billion. For Merck’s Healthcare sector, it will sharpen the focus on rare tumors, accelerate growth, and strengthen the presence in the U.S., the world’s largest pharma market. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025.
Life Science further accelerates growth
The Life Science business sector of Merck further accelerated its growth in the first quarter of 2025. Net sales increased to € 2.2 billion (organically: +2.5%) and EBITDA pre to € 622 million (organically: +3.1%). This was driven by the very strong recovery in demand in Process Solutions, which markets solutions for the entire pharmaceutical production value chain. Net sales of this business grew organically by 11.4% to € 919 million.
Net sales in Science & Lab Solutions, with its product and service offering for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic research, came in at € 1.1 billion. This represented an organic decline of 2.5% year-on-year, on the back of increased uncertainty regarding the funding of scientific research and a still challenging pharmaceutical research spending environment.
Life Science Services recorded net sales of € 151 million (organically: –6.2%). The unit offers customers services as a contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) of medications as well as testing services. While there was some momentum in antibody drug conjugates and small molecules, overall demand remained low. The overall situation for the funding of early-stage biotech projects remained challenging in the first quarter.
Healthcare continues to deliver profitable growth
Healthcare net sales grew organically by 3.4% to € 2.1 billion, while EBITDA pre rose 11.7% to € 796 million. This was primarily driven by temporarily reduced R&D expenditure. The business sector’s Cardiovascular, Metabolism and Endocrinology franchise was the main growth driver with organic growth across all therapeutic areas. Net sales of this franchise climbed organically by 10.6% to € 757 million.
In the Oncology franchise, net sales decreased slightly to € 491 million (organically: –1.9%). Net sales of Erbitux grew organically by 6.2% to € 305 million, benefiting from continued market growth in China. Erbitux is a treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer as well as cancer of the head and neck. Net sales of Bavencio, a drug for treating a type of bladder cancer, declined by 15.4% to € 157 million due to increasing competition.
In the Neurology & Immunology franchise, net sales came in at € 407 million (organically: –3.7%). Net sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Mavenclad rose organically by 9.2% to € 287 million, driven by increased demand in North America and Europe in particular. Net sales of Rebif, the other multiple sclerosis treatment offered by Merck, decreased organically by 25.1% to € 120 million in line with the interferon market.
The Fertility franchise achieved around stable net sales of € 382 million (organically: –0.4%) despite still elevated year-earlier figures, which were influenced by supply shortages at competitors.
Semiconductor materials demand drove growth in Electronics
Electronics generated first-quarter net sales of € 948 million, with organic growth of 0.6%. EBITDA pre rose 2.0% to € 244 million. Continued demand for semiconductor materials used in Artificial Intelligence technologies drove the strong and steady growth of the business. As a result, net sales of Semiconductor Solutions, which develops products and services for the semiconductor industry, grew by 2.0% organically to € 649 million. Demand for high-value materials used in advanced nodes – manufacturing technologies with the smallest feature sizes enabling AI – continued to drive a strong volume growth.
Optronics increased sales to € 198 million. The business unit is a supplier of cutting-edge optical technologies for the electronics industry. The organic development was around stable, while Unity-SC contributed nicely with a 4.3% portfolio effect. Merck fully acquired the specialist for high-precision metrology instruments in October 2024.
Surface Solutions sales amounted to € 101 million (organically: –6.9%) with weaker cosmetics demand. In 2024, Merck announced it had agreed to divest this business unit. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025.
Merck confident it will deliver sustainable growth in 2025
Merck has slightly adapted its full-year guidance for the Group for 2025 to reflect the impact of the current macro-economic and geopolitical environment. In particular, foreign-exchange effects may become more of a headwind in all three business sectors. The slight adjustment to the guidance in Life Science, Merck’s biggest business sector, is also related to the current uncertainties around tariffs. Merck remains confident it will deliver sustainable growth in 2025. The company now expects Group full-year net sales of between € 20.9 billion and € 22.4 billion and EBITDA pre of between € 5.8 billion and € 6.4 billion. This corresponds to organic sales growth of 2% to 6% and an organic EBITDA pre growth of 2% to 7%.
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