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WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. (AP) The new Merck & Co. becomes the world's second-biggest drugmaker overnight, and it's boasting a fat wallet to fund future deals.

That's after the maker of vaccines and cholesterol and Diabetes drugs bought Schering-Plough Corp. yesterday for $41.1 billion.

Merck leapfrogged from No. 8 to No. 2 in the industry by revenue.

The company has about $8 billion in cash and investments and plans to keep investing in deals for rights to new drugs.

Merck says combining the companies and slimming down the resulting staff of 106,000 employees will save about $3.5 billion a year after 2011. But it expects the acquisition to boost profits slightly by next year and is forecasting profit growth in the high single digits for the next several years.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-04-09 0738CST | save this article / add to your favorites list