Merck reveals losses in sales due to cyber-attack

Merck has revealed, in its third quarter earnings report, that the manufacturing disruptions related to the cyber-attack that happened earlier in the year led to $135 million in lost sales.

Additionally, as reported by the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS), the cyber-attack also left the company in a situation where it needed to borrow from a US Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) strategic stockpile to meet demand for one of its vaccines.

The ‘NotPetya’ cyber-attack in June halted Merck’s production at one of its facilities temporarily. “As we had cautioned in July, the June cyber event negatively impacted third quarter results, including an unfavorable revenue impact of approximately $135 million from lost sales,” Merck CFO Robert Davis said during the company's earnings call.

In the RAPS news report, Davis attributed roughly $175 million in costs from the quarter to the cyber-attack and revealed that he anticipates similar results for the fourth quarter revenue and expenses.

Furthermore, from the temporary shut-down of its manufacturing facility in addition to high demand, the company was required to borrow $240 million worth of its human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil 9. According to Davis, growth for that vaccine would have been experienced had Merck not needed to borrow from the CDC’s stockpile.