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Merck & Co. (nyse: MRK - news - people ) CEO Raymond Gilmartin has been in the hot seat since Vioxx was pulled from the market two weeks ago for causing heart attacks and strokes. He's due to retire in 2006, but those two years won't be easy, even if he sticks them out. There may be some bright spots on the horizon over the next few weeks, though. A decision from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Arcoxia, a successor to Vioxx, is due by the end of the month. Many analysts think it's a goner, but the FDA could still approve it with a serious warning label. Data on Merck's next big hope, a vaccine for the human papilloma virus, could be ready at the beginning of next month at a medical meeting. That could also give Gilmartin a boost. But the lawyers are swirling around the Vioxx recall, and Merck's prospects will be difficult to judge without a sense of the company's legal liability.
--Matt Herper
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