New York, Feb 3 (AP) The blockbuster cancer treatment Keytruda pushed Merck past fourth-quarter expectations, and the drugmaker's COVID-19 treatment debuted with nearly $1 billion in sales.

Sales for the Gardasil vaccine, which protects against cancer-causing human papilloma virus infections, jumped 50%, Merck said Thursday.

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Merck earned $3.75 billion in the final quarter of 2021 and sales jumping 24% to $13.52 billion.

Adjusted earnings, which exclude items like interest expense, totalled $1.80 per share, far exceeding Wall Street's per-share projections of $1.53, according to a survey by the data firm FactSet.

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Merck sales also topped the quarterly revenue expectations of $13.16 billion from industry analysts.

The drugmaker expects adjusted earnings of $7.12 to $7.27 per share on $56.1 billion to $57.6 billion in revenue.

Wall Street has been projecting earnings of $7.30 per share on $56.71 billion in revenue.

Shares of Merck & Co., based in Kenilworth, New Jersey, slipped 17 cents to $81.84 in early trading. (AP)

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