Merck profit rises on gains from deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merck & Co on Monday said first-quarter profit rose on gains from a deal with longtime partner AstraZeneca, although the company's sales rose only 1 percent as negative results of a clinical trial slowed growth of its Vytorin and Zetia cholesterol drugs.

The company said it earned $3.3 billion, or $1.52 per share, compared with $1.7 billion, or 78 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding special items, Merck earned 89 cents per share.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, editing by Maureen Bavdek)

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