UPDATE: Morgan Stanley Downgrades Merck to Underweight Ahead of Key March Trial

Morgan Stanley downgraded Merck

from Equal-weight to Underweight and removed the price target of $43.00. Morgan Stanley commented, "We are less enthusiastic about MRK's pipeline after the odanacatib delay and more worried than consensus that IMPROVE-IT (Vytorin cholesterol drug) trial could fail in March ‘13, hurting numbers and anacetrapib (cholesterol candidate) perception. … The added scrutiny is unusual, and we believe the Street underappreciates the risk of excessive harm." Merck closed at $41.83 on Friday.