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Merck - USD Company profile

Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) is a healthcare company dealing in pharmaceuticals and animal health. Founded in 1891, Merck is headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey. 

The company provides pharmaceutical products around the world, offering an array of human healthcare solutions designed for areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular and diabetes. 

Apart from prescription medicines, Merck is known for its vaccine products for preventive diseases. A predecessor company to the present-day Merck made the first smallpox vaccine for commercial use in the United States in 1898 and was the maker of HPV vaccine Gardasil and painkiller Vioxx.

This biopharmaceutical company engages in research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. In 2021, Merck invested $12.2bn in research and development, especially to counter and help win the fight against coronavirus. It’s molnupiravir was given emergency use authorisation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to counter mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in adults. 

Merck puts equal emphasis on animal health through Merck Animal Health, a research-driven company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of veterinary medicines and services.

The company engages and partners with several experts for early-stage science, clinical-stage programs, to deliver therapies and more. GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK), Johnson & Johnson (JJ) and many others are actively engaged with Merck.

Being more than a century old, Merck made it through two world wars and was a big part of the economic and business history of American public markets. Post-First World War, authorities seized the subsidiary of a German chemical maker to prevent the Kaiser from profiteering from American needs. Merck was re-established as an American corporation after the Second World War ended. 

The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1946 under the symbol ‘MRK’.