Surging Merck Seeks to Expand Use of HPV Vaccine to Older Women

Merck is enjoying a nice ride. After jumping 3.7% on Wednesday, Merck & Co. (MRK) shares continued their climb higher, up about 2.7% at the end of trading Thursday. On Wednesday, investors reacted to an analyst's upgrade. On Thursday, they reacted to news that Merck is trying to broaden the market for its cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil. Also, it certainly didn't hurt that Merck CEO Richard Clark said at an investor conference on Tuesday that 10 of the company's products were on track to generate at least $1 billion each in sales for 2009.