Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) fourth-quarter results could have been much worse. Instead they may indicate that there is some hope for the drug maker to improve its results despite the huge liability it faces because of Vioxx and the expiration of the patent on Zocor, which had been its top seller.

Net income plunged to $473.9 million, or 22 cents per share, versus $1.12 billion, or 51 cents, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 4.8 percent. to $6.04 billion, boosted by strong sales of allergy and asthma. Excluding charges, profit was 50 cents, matching the consensus forecasts. Wall Street was expecting revenue of $5.37 billion. It repeated guidance for the year of $2.51 to $2.59 per share.

A potential bright spot for the Whitehouse New Jersey-based company may be in its $1.1 billion purchase of the biotech firm Sirna. WBB Securities analyst Steve Brozak told the Associated Press that "If it harms this quarter or next quarter, that is not a big deal."

Increased sales of drugs such as Singulair and Vytorin along with gains in the vaccine business softened the blow from the drop off in Zocor revenue.

The company has raised its earnings forecasts three times last year and investors are expecting it to happen again. Merck's shares barely moved after the earnings were issued yesterday. Considering all of the challenges this company is facing, that's saying something.

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