July 30 Reuters Merck Co posted higherthanexpected secondquarter results on Tuesday on strong growth of its blockbuster cancer immunotherapy Keytruda, the world39;s bestselling prescription medicine.

New Jerseybased Merck slightly raised its fullyear sales projections, following other big pharmaceutical companies like Roche, Johnson Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb, which lifted their forecasts when they reported earnings earlier this month.

Merck posted a profit of 5.5 billion, or 2.14 per share, for the quarter, compared with a loss of 6 billion, or 2.35 a share, a year earlier, when it took a large acquisitionrelated charge.

Excluding onetime items, Merck said it earned 2.28 per share. Analysts, on average, expected 2.15 a share, according to LSEG data.

Sales in the quarter were 16.1 billion, up 7 from last year and above analysts39; expectations of 15.8 billion.

Keytruda has been Merck39;s most important revenue driver for years with annual sales expected to rise well above 30 billion before the drug loses patent protection toward the end of the decade.

Sales of Keytruda, which is approved to treat many types of cancer, hit 7.3 billion for the quarter, up 16 from a year ago. Analysts had expected sales of around 7.1 billion.

Merck said it now expects fullyear sales of 63.4 to 64.4 billion, up from its prior view of 63.1 to 64.3 billion. Analysts have forecast 2024 sales of 64.3 billion.

But the company cut its fullyear earnings forecast mainly due to onetime…