MERCK & Co will cut 7,200 jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce, as the third-largest United States drug maker faces generic competition and falling sales of its Zetia and Vytorin cholesterol pills.

Net income dropped 28 percent to US$1.09 billion, or US$0.51 a share, on charges associated with firing workers, the New Jersey-based company said yesterday in a statement. Profit excluding one-time items beat by a penny the US$0.79 average estimate of a dozen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Sales fell 2.1 percent to US$5.94 billion.

Sales of cholesterol pills Vytorin and Zetia have been sinking since a study in January found the pills no more effective than another drug that costs one-fifth as much. Sales of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil also dipped on concern over its price, safety and effectiveness. Merck already has eliminated 10,400 positions since 2005 and is developing new drugs to brace for patent expirations of its leading products.

The job cuts include firing 6,800 active employees and eliminating 400 vacancies by 2011, the firm said. About 40 percent of the cuts will be in the United States.