Merck & Co.: Difference between revisions

[[File:Merck Research Laboratories.jpg|thumb|right|Merck Research Laboratories in [[South San Francisco, California]]]]

In May 2002, The [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]] purchased stock in Merck.

From 2002 through 2005, the Australian affiliate of Merck paid publishing house [[Elsevier]] an undisclosed amount to produce eight issues of a medical journal, the ''[[Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine]]''. Although it gave the appearance of being an independent peer-reviewed journal, without any indication that Merck had paid for it, the journal actually reprinted articles that originally appeared in other publications and that were favorable to Merck. The misleading publication came to light in 2009 during a personal injury lawsuit filed over Vioxx; 9 of 29 articles in the journal's second issue referred positively to Vioxx. The CEO of Elsevier's Health Sciences Division, Michael Hansen, admitted that the practice was "unacceptable".

In 2005, [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] [[Raymond Gilmartin]] retired following Merck's voluntary worldwide withdrawal of [[Vioxx]]. Former president of manufacturing [[Richard Clark (pharmacologist)|Richard Clark]] was named CEO and company president.

In November 2009, Merck & Co. completed a merger with [[Schering-Plough]] in a US$41 billion deal. Although Merck & Co. was in reality acquiring Schering-Plough, the purchase was declared a "reverse merger", in which "Old" Merck & Co. was renamed Merck Sharp & Dohme, and Schering-Plough renamed as "Merck & Co., Inc. The maneuver was an attempt avoid a "change-of-control" in order to preserve Schering-Plough's rights to market [[Remicade]]. A settlement with [[Johnson & Johnson]] was reached in 2011, in which Merck agreed to pay $500 million. Merck Sharp & Dohme remains a subsidiary of the Merck & Co. parent.

[[Richard Clark (pharmacologist)|Richard Clark]] retired as CEO and company president in October 2011 and [[Kenneth Frazier]] became CEO.

In October 2013, Merck announced it would cut 8,500 jobs in an attempt to cut $2.5 billion from its costs by 2015. Combined with 7,500 job cuts announced in 2011 and 2012, the layoffs amounted to 20% of its workforce.

By 2014, research performed at Merck has led to U.S. FDA approval of 63 [[New molecular entity|new molecular entities]].

In August 2014, Merck acquired Idenix Pharmaceuticals for $3.85 billion.

Between 2010 and 2015, the company cut around 36,450 jobs. During that time, the company sold its consumer health business to [[Bayer]] and narrowed the company's focus to immunology, vaccines, diabetes, emerging markets and medicines used in hospitals, like certain antibiotics.

In January 2015, Merck acquired [[Cubist Pharmaceuticals]].

In July 2015, Merck and [[Ablynx]] expanded their 18-month-old immuno-oncology collaboration by four years, generating a potential $4.4 billion in milestone payments for the Abylnx. The company also announced it would spend $95 million up front collaborating with cCAM Biotherapeutics and its early-stage treatment similar to Keytruda. Merck & Co. will bring in CM-24, an antibody designed to block the immune checkpoint [[CEACAM1]].

In January 2016, Merck announced two new partnerships; the first with Quartet Medicine and its small molecule pain treatments, the second with Complix investigating intracellular cancer targets, with both collaborations potentially generating up to $595 million and $280 million respectively. Days later the company announced it would acquire IOmet Pharma, with IOmet becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co. The acquisition includes IOmets [[indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1]] (IDO), [[tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase]] (TDO), and dual-acting inhibitors.

In July 2016, the company acquired Afferent Pharmaceuticals, developer of a candidate used to block [[P2RX3]] receptors, for approximately $1 billion, plus up to $750 million in milestone payments.

In 2017, Merck bought the [[PARP inhibitor]] Lynparza from AstraZeneca.

In April 2017, Merck Animal Health acquired Vallée S.A., a Brazilian animal health product manufacturer.

In September 2017, the company announced it would acquire Rigontec, developer of a candidate to target the [[retinoic acid-inducible gene I]] pathway, for $554 million.

In October 2017, the company granted the inaugural Merck-AGITG Clinical Research Fellowship in Gastro-Intestinal (GI) Cancer to David Lau, a professional in Melbourne, Australia.

In June 2018, Merck acquired [[Viralytics]], an Australian viral cancer drug company, for AUD$502 million.

In 2018, Merck began the submission process for a Biologics License Application to the [[Food and Drug Administration]] under the Breakthrough Therapy Designation for an investigational vaccine, called V920, to fight the Zaire strain of the [[Ebola virus]].

In May 2019, Merck announced it would acquire Peloton Therapeutics, developer of a HIF-2alpha inhibitor for [[Von Hippel–Lindau disease]]-associated [[renal cell carcinoma]], for up to $2.2 billion.

In December 2019, Merck Animal Health acquired Vaki, an aquaculture company, from [[Pentair]].