Merck's quarterly profit falls 12 percent

(Reuters) - Drugmaker Merck & Co reported a 12.3 percent fall in quarterly profit on Friday, as research and development expenses rose.

Net income attributable to the company fell to $1.71 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the second quarter, from $1.95 billion, or 71 cents per share, a year earlier.

Sales of its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda rose 89.2 percent to $1.67 billion.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)