Merck/stats, details

Basic Information

HQ Contact information

1 Merck Dr.
Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889
Phone: 908-423-1000
Fax: 908-735-1253
Web: http://www.merck.com

Country of incorporation

United States (Delaware)

Ownership status

Public

Primary industry sector

• Human Health
  • Vaccine Segment
  • Pharmaceutical Segment
• Animal Health

Primary industry ranking

2007:

• Fortune 500: 95

• Fortune Pharmaceutical Rank: 4

• Forbes Global 2000 Profit Rank: 100

Number of employees worldwide

60,000

Chief executive officer

Richard T. Clark, 61

Financial information

Ticker symbol

MRK

Main exchanges

NYSE

Investor website

http://www.merck.com/finance/

Largest shareholders

Merck's largest institutional shareholders, as of June 30, 2007.

1. Capital Research and Management, 6.06%
2. FMR Corporation, 5.26%
3. Barclays Global Investors, 3.36%
4. AXA, 3.29%
5. State Street Coporation, 3.13%
6. Vanguard Group, 2.87%
7. Franklin Resources, 2.24%
8. JP Morgan Chase, 1.85%

Revenue and income

Merck's 2006 revenues were:

• Overall: $22,636,000,000
• By Division:
  • Pharmaceuticals: $20,374,800,000
  • Vaccines: $1,705,500,000

2006 Net Income:

• $4,433,800,000

Company history

Merck & Co. traces its origins to Friedrich Jacob Merck who purchased a drug store in Darmstadt in 1668; and Emanuel Merck who took over the store several generations later, in 1816. Emanuel and his successors gradually built up a chemical-pharmaceutical factory that produced — in addition to raw materials for pharmaceutical preparations — a multitude of other chemicals.

In 1887, George Merck set up Merck & Co. in New York as the US arm of the family partnership, Merck & Co. was confiscated in 1917, under the Alien Property Act and administered by a custodian appointed by the federal government. In 1919, George Merck bought the company back from the Alien Property Custodian and registered it as an independent American company. By 1933the company had built their first lab and moved into the discovery and manufacture of vitamins. By 1945, Merck was the largest US producer of vitamins, with sales of $35 million.

Merck received its most significant breakthrough when Dr. Waksman, who had developed Streptomycin at nearby Rutgers, decided to license the product to Merck. That same year, their own R+D unit discovered cortisone, which Merck, still lacking a sales force, then licensed to other pharmaceutical firms to sell. In 1953, Merck merged with Sharp& Dohme primarily to acquire their talented sales force and to begin competing with other, vertically-integrated, pharmaceutical companies.

Today, the US company has about 61,500 employees in 120 countries and 31 factories worldwide. It is one of the top 7 pharmaceutical companies worldwide, much larger than its German ancestor, which currently employs around 28,600 people in 54 countries.

In 2005, CEO Raymond Gilmartin retired at the age of 64 following Merck's voluntary worldwide withdrawal of Vioxx. Former president of manufacturing Richard Clark was named CEO and President of the company.

Vioxx recall

As of February 2007, Merck had seen 14 Vioxx-related cases through trial, 4 cases were decided for the plaintiffs, 7 were decided for Merck, one was decided for Merck then overturned by the judge, one was declared a mistrial then decided for Merck, and one was declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked.

Detailed information

Business scope

Lines of business

• Pharmaceutical Preparations
• Vaccines

Units/subsidiaries

Full List of Subsidiaries

Major products

2006, by revenue(millions):

1. Singulair, $3,579
2. Cozaar $3,163
3. Fosamax $3,134
4. Zocor, $2,802
5. Primaxin $704.8
6. Cosopt $697.1
7. Proscar $618.5

By Description:

• Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin) – a combination cholesterol-lowering preparation marketed in collaboration with Schering-Plough.
• Zetia (ezetimibe) - cholesterol absorption inhibitor - lowers LDL
• Zocor (simvastatin) – a cholesterol-lowering statin.
• Propecia/Proscar (finasteride) – used for alopecia (male pattern baldness) and prostate|prostatic conditions.
• Emen (aprepitant) – treats vomiting and nausea brought about by chemotherapy.
• Fosamax (alendronate) – osteroporosis medication.
• Fosamax Plus D (alendronate/Vitamin D) – osteroporosis medication.
• Singulair (montelukast) – an asthma medication that blocks leukotrienes.
• Crixivan (indinavir) – a protease inhibitor HIV medication.
• Maxalt (rizatriptan) one of many triptans used to treat migraines.
• Cozaar/Hyzaar - used to treat hypertension and to reduce the risk of strokes
• Cosopt - reduces intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma or ocular hypertension.
• Invanz - an injectable antibiotic (Carbapenem) used for those with diabetic foot infections.
• Primaxin (imipenem with cilastatin) – a broad spectrum carbapenem antibiotic.
• Gardasil - a vaccine against HPV, the sexually transmitted disease that is the most common cause of cervical cancer.
• Zostavax - a vaccine for prevention of shingles in adults older than 60 years of age.
• Rotateq - a vaccine to prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis, a leading cause of severe diarrhea in infants and young children.
• MMRV vaccine|ProQuad]] - a vaccine for simultaneous vaccination against measles,mumps, rubella, and varicella in children.
• Mectizan/Stromectol (ivermectin) - used to treat river blindness.
• Zolinza (Vorinostat) - a histone deacetylase inhibitor for the treatment of cutaneous T cell lymphoma.
• Januvia (sitagliptin) - a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors|dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor for the treatment of diabetes
• Arcoxia (etoricoxib) - for the symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis (not approved in the US, but approved and sold in Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region and Middle East/Northern Africa)
• Isentress (raltegravir) - HIV integrase inhibitor.

Competitors

Pfizer
GlaxoSmithKline
Sanofi-Aventis
Bristol-Myers Squibb

Geographic scope

Breakdown of revenue

By Year (millions)

• 2006: $22,636
• 2005: $22,011.9
• 2004: $22,938.6
• 2003: $22,485.9

By Region:

• 2006:
  • USA: 61%
  • International: 39%
• 2005:
  • USA: 58%
  • International: 42%

By Product Category (millions):

• 2006:
  • Pharmaceuticals: $20,374.8
  • Vaccines: $1,705.5
  • Other: $555.7

Breakdown of profits

By Year (millions)

• 2006: $4,433.8
• 2005: $4,631.3
• 2004: $5,830.1
• 2003: $6,875

Marketing Costs

By Year (millions):

• 2006: $8,165.4
• 2005: $7,155.5
• 2004: $7238.7

Research and Development Costs

By Year (millions):

• 2006: $4,782.9
• 2005: $3,848
• 2004: $4,010.2

Breakdown of employees

By Year

• 2006: 60,000
• 2005: 61,500
• 2004: 62,600
• 2003: 63,200
• 2002: 77,300

Governance

Board members & affiliations

Source:

• Richard T. Clark, CEO Merck
• Paul A. Friedman, CEO Incyte
• Raymond V. Gilmartin, CEO Merck (1994-2005)
• Robert A. Ingram, GlaxoSmithKline
• Judy C. Lewent, CFO Merck
• Myrtle Potter, COO Genentech(2000-2004)
• Bradley T. Sheares, CEO Reliant Pharmaceuticals
• John L. Zabriskie, CEO Pharmacia& Upjohn (1995-97)
• Larry Bossidy, CEO Honeywell
• William B. Harrison, CEO JPMorgan Chase
• Rochelle Lazarus, CEO Ogilvy & Mather
• Anne M. Tatlock, CEO Fiduciary Trust (1999-2006)
• Wendell P. Weeks, CEO Corning

Executive/director compensation

Richard T. Clark, $10,296,840

Corporate accountability

Labor

Human Rights Campaign 2006 Equality Index: 100

Named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers for 2006 by Working Mother Magazine

Domestic

2006: 31,800

Global

2006: 60,000 worldwide

• 21% are represented by collective bargaining groups
• 7,000 jobs to be eliminated by the end of 2008
• Intend to close 5 of the 31 manufacturing facilities and 2 preclinical sites.

Social responsibility initiatives

• United States

Merck established one of the first "Patient Assistance Programs" in the US almost 50 years ago. This program provides Merck-manufactured drugs free of charge to uninsured individuals earning less than $19,140 a year, or famillies earning less than $38,700(for a family of four). In 2004, according to Merck, this program filled 6.69 million free prescriptions in the US.

• Canada

Merck Frosst, the Canadian subsidiary of Merck, offers a similar patient assistance program.

• Africa
  • Merck Vaccine Network
  • Mectizan Donation Program

Begun in 1987, this is Merck's well-known program to donate Mectizan, a cure for river-blindness, for free to all who need it. Working with the WHO, World Bank, and UNICEF they established an extensive infrastructure in Africa, Latin America, and Yemen to distribute the drug effectively. As of 1998, they estimate that 350 million treatments have been administered.

• HIV/AIDS Pricing Policy

Merck claims to make no profit on the sale of its current HIV/AIDS medications in "the world's poorest countries and those hardest hi by the pandemic." In 2001, they reduced prices for CRIXIVAN and STORCIN using the UN's Human Development Index(HDI) and HIV prevalence data reported by UNAIDS.

• Botswana/Gates/Merck Partnership

In 2000, Merck donated $50 million dollars and its two anti-retroviral medications to Botswana's ARV program, named "Masa." This is a joint partnership with the government of Botswana and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Political & public influence

Lobbying

Amount by year:

• 2004: $3,560,000
  
• 2005: $3,680,000
  
• 2006: $4,050,000
  

Lobbyists by Issue:

• 2004
  • Consumer Product Safety: 4
  • Trade: 2
  • Taxes: 1
• 2005
  • Medicare & Medicaid: 6
  • Health Issues: 5
  • Consumer Product Safety: 4
  • Trade: 2
• 2006
  • Medicare & Medicaid: 8
  • Health Issues: 7
  • Taxes: 6
  • Federal Budget: 1

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• crisis management
• Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
• Pharmaceutical industry
• Using celebrities
• Women in Government

External resources

Merck Related Articles at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Merck Profile, Hoovers, accessed November 2007]

Books on Merck

Galambos, Louis, “Networks of Innovation: Vaccine Development at Merck, Sharp & Dohme, and Mulford, 1895-1995”, Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Hawthorne, Fran, “The Merck Druggernaut: The Inside Story of a Pharmaceutical Giant”, J Wiley & Sons, 2003.

Vagelos, Roy, “The Moral Corporation: Merck Experiences”, Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Vagelos, Roy, “Medicine, Science, and Merck”, Cambridge University Press, 2004.