Merck & Co. is a multinational pharmaceutical company founded in Germany in 1668 as a part of Merck Group by Theodore Weicker and George Merck. However, the company was founded as an individual unit in 1917. Merck & Co. is on a present date not related to the Merck group, but in the past, there was a connection between both companies.
The major Merck & Co. location (headquarters) is in Kenilworth, New Jersey. However, their corporate officers are spread over 76 countries across the globe. The company has a lot of best-selling drugs and is one of the most successful pharmaceutical companies in the United States.
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| Title | Category | Address | Description | Link | Address | Phone Number |
|---|
General Information
| HQ: | 2000 Galloping Hill Rd, Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA |
| Zip Code: | 07033 |
| Traded as: | NYSE: MRK |
| Industry: | Pharmaceutical industry |
| Founded: | 1891 as a subsidiary of Merck (founded 1668) 1917 as an independent company |
| Products: | Pharmaceuticals, generic drugs, over-the-counter drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, contact lenses, Veterinary medicine |
| Website: | www.merck.com (valid only in U.S. and Canada) / msd.com (valid internationally) |
| Business data: | Google Finance / Yahoo! Finance / SEC filings |
What is Merck & Co?
Merck & Co. is a multinational pharmaceutical company founded and based in the United States. The headquarters of the company is located in Kenilworth, New Jersey. Merck was a subsidiary of Merck Group (A Germany-based pharmaceutical company), but at the present date, there is no relation between both companies. According to Wikipedia.com, Merck & Co. is the 7th largest American biomedical company in terms of revenue. The company’s mission is to provide innovative pharma products to people and serve society.
Where is Merck & Co. headquarters located?
The headquarters of Merck & Co. is located in Kenilworth, New Jersey, United States. In addition, there are around 264 corporate Merck & Co. locations with a presence in over 76 countries.
Address: 2000 Galloping Hill Road Kenilworth, NJ 07033 USA
How do I contact Merck & Co. corporate?
You can contact the staff of the headquarters of Merck & Co. by using the phone from Monday to Friday. The office of staff is open between 8:30 and 5:30.
Phone Number: 1-908-740-4000
Company History
Merck & Co. was not founded as a separate company; rather, it split from a German company named Merck Group. Merck Group was owned and founded by Merck Family back in 1668. Friedrich Jacob Merck purchased a drug store in Darmstadt, and it is how Merck Group started. After around six decades, in 1827, Merck Group expanded its business by starting the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals. Their first commercial drug was morphine. Morphine is a pain killer.
Merck Group established itself in the United States when in 1887, an employee of the company visited the United States for expansion of the company. His name was Theodore Weicker. He was also the co-founder of Merck & Co. Later, in 1891, George Merck, who was a member of the Merck Family, established Merck & Co. in New York, and at that time, the parent company of Merck & Co. was Merck Group. Weicker was the CEO of Merck & Co.
When the United States entered World War 1, Merck & Co. was nationalized under the act “Trading with Enemy Act of 1917” because of its connections with German company Merck Group. In 1919, in an auction by US Government, the company was bought again by George W. Merck in partnership with two more investors for $3.5 million. At that time, Merck Group was not the parent company of Merck & Co.; rather, Merck & Co. became an independent company.
During the 1950s, Karl H. Beyer, James M. Sprague, John E. Baer, and Fredrick C. Novello, who were the pharmacists working in Merck & Co., founded Thiazide Diuretics. Thiazide was the first drug of this class developed by Merck & Co. Later, Chlorothiazide was discovered, which ultimately was used to save the lives of thousands of people suffering from hypertension. It was a major success for the company and gave a boost to its growth.
Merck & Co., in 1953, was merged with another pharmaceutical company based in Philadelphia named Sharp & Dohme, Inc. This merger made Merck & Co. the largest pharmaceutical production company in the United States. The united company’s name in North America was Merck & Co., and outside North America, it was known as Merck Sharp & Dohme.
In 1965, Merck & Co. founded its Canadian subsidiary named Merck-Frosst Canada, Inc. by acquiring a Canadian company named Charles Frosst Ltd. of Montreal. The company closed its Canadian subsidiary in 2010 but again in 2011, it remerged.
After that, in 1967, a scientist at Merck & Co. developed the vaccine for mumps and rubella vaccine in 1969. Furthermore, a vaccine for trivalent measles was also developed, which resulted in causing a decrement in the rubella-associated birth defects. The cases were decreased to zero from 10,000 in the United States.
Merck & Co. formed a joint venture in 1982 with AstraZeneca, and in the late 1980s, it also formed a joint venture with DuPont and Johnson and Johnson. Also, Merck & Co. made an acquisition of Medco Containment Services for $6 billion in 1993.
Company Profile
Merck is a global healthcare and pharmaceutical products manufacturer. According to wikipedia.com, Merck is the 7th largest American pharmaceutical company. Merck produces a handful of blockbuster drugs.
The company also focuses on animal healthcare products. They aim to provide innovative and modern healthcare products and services to improve people’s quality of life.
Merck & Co. CEO and Key Executive Team
| Names | Designations |
| Kenneth C. Frazier | Chairman of the Board |
| Sanat Chattopadhyay | Executive Vice President and President, Merck Manufacturing Division |
| Steven C. Mizell | Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer |
| Dave Williams | Chief Information and Digital Officer |
| Bala Sreenivasan | Vice President, Supply Chain Management |
| Source: merck.com, merck.com, merck.com | |
What makes Merck & Co. successful?
In a nutshell, the company’s passion for serving society makes it successful. The mission statement of Merck says that they always try to create innovational drugs, and for that reason, the company invests a lot in research and development. Because of this, Merck owns a lot of patents. These patents are also the competitive advantage of the company. All of these factors combine to make Merck a prosperous company.
How does Merck & Co make money?
The major percentage of Merck’s profit comes from selling pharmaceutical products to retailers, wholesalers, and hospitals, etcetera. Besides this, Merck also makes profits by providing healthcare services to patients.
In the future, the company does not want to rely only on drugs and services; rather, they look beyond that. Merck’s goal is to become the “Best healthcare company in the world.” For that purpose, the company is focusing on research and development. Merck has various blockbuster drugs, and in the future, they plan to extend their income by creating innovative drugs. Also, to increase the ROI, Merck is focusing on the following three strategies:
Prioritized Portfolio:
The company has invested a lot in areas where there is growth potential in the pharmaceutical market. This is a part of the prioritized portfolio plan.
Focused Therapy and Priority Markets:
Merck plans to focus on ten priority markets. They are also focusing on four main therapy areas, which are diabetes, oncology, vaccine, and acute care.
Targeted Business Development:
Merck has also adopted an impeccable business development strategy to market their focused therapy products and products, which fall under their priority markets list.
Current notable Merck products:
Notable Merck drugs are listed in the following table.
| Clarinex | RotaTeq |
| Intron A | Propecia / Proscar |
| Fosamax | Varivax |
| Gardasil | Proventil |
| Implanon | Zostavax |
| MMR | Singulair |
| NuvaRing | Erbevo (Ebola Vaccine) |
| Januvia / Janumet | Recombivax HB |
| Keytruda | Zocor |
Top 5 biggest Merck & Co. competitors or Alternative
1. Pfizer
Pfizer secures 3rd rank in the list of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Pfizer was founded in 1849 by two founders: Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart. The company is a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Stock Market Index.
Also, it is ranked at 64th and 49th on Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 2000, respectively. In 2020, its revenue was $41.908 billion, and the net income was $9.615 billion.
2. Novartis
Novartis was founded in 1996 by the merger of Ciba-Geiger and Sandoz. In the United States, the corporate office of Novartis is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. No doubt, Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Its revenue in 2020 was $49.89 billion, and the income was $8.07 billion.
3. GSK
According to Forbes, GlaxoSmithKline is the world’s 6th largest pharmaceutical company. The headquarters of GSK is located in London, England. The company was founded in 2000.
Its revenue in 2020 was $45.65 billion, and its total net income was around $7.65 billion. GSK is listed on FTSE 100 Index.
4. AbbVie
AbbVie is an American biopharmaceutical company founded in 2013. AbbVie was separated as an independent company from Abbott Laboratories. The company is comparatively small and yet in the process of development.
Last year, its annual revenue was $45.804 billion, and the net income of the company was around $4.622 billion.
5. Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is another well-known name in the pharmaceutical industry. The company was founded in 1876 by Eli Lilly. The headquarters of Eli Lilly is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.
The company was ranked at 123rd on Fortune 500 in 2019. In 2019, its revenue was around $22.319 billion, and the net income was $8.318 billion.
Top Fun Facts About Merck & Co.
Here, we will discuss some of the surprising facts about Merck & Co.
- Meryl Streep’s father worked at Merck:
Meryl Streep is an Oscar-winning American actress. Her father, Harry Streep, worked at Merck & Co. for around 25 years. Streep retired in 1975. He worked as manager of compensation and benefits for Rahway personnel and director of personnel for the international division, and manager of foreign research and planning.
- Merck pharmacy in Manhattan:
Merck & Co. opened a stylish pharmacy in downtown Manhattan in 1897. This pharmacy was widely known for selling exclusive drugs and candies in the US and Europe. This kind of pharmacy was not common at that time. It was a unique marketing strategy of Merck.
- Thomas Edison and Merck:
It would also be a surprise for our readers that the inventor of the bulb, Thomas Edison, was the neighbor of the founder of Merck & Co., George Merck. Edison was also one of the earliest buyers of Merck & Co.
- Thomas Mundy Peterson’s great-granddaughter:
Thomas was the first African-American to vote in the United States. After the ratification of the 15th amendment, Thomas’s great-granddaughter worked at Merck & Co. Her name was Althea Peterson.
- Antiseptic club:
The antiseptic club was the first employee organization. Its nickname was “Microbe Killers.” This club had nothing to do with germs; rather, it concentrated more on social functions and games, etcetera.
- IPO of Merck & Co.:
Around 202,372 common Merck & Co. stocks were offered to the public in 1941 at the price of $28.75. The company was listed on NYSE in 1946.
- Raoul Dufy:
Merck was the first pharmaceutical company to create cortisone. Later, cortisone was proved a great anti-inflammatory. It was used to treat the arthritis of Raoul Dufy (French Painter). Dufy gave the right of reproducing 5 of his paintings to Merck & Co.
Is Merck & Co. stock a good buy when considering long-term investments?
A straightforward answer would be yes. Merck & Co. stock is a very strong buy right now and is considered a great long-term investment in the opinions of several investors, but here we are going to analyze it in detail, and we will be discussing why it is going to boom in the future.
Merck & Co. sales and revenue:
If we look at the figures of sales and revenue of Merck, we will notice a sudden rise. The company’s earnings were rose by a whopping 28%. The sales of the company increased by 20%. Both of the stats were not predictable. The company proved all the forecasts wrong. This was the reason behind the increment of Merck & Co.’s stock price. This gives us the signal that the future also won’t be bad and may it outperform again. In that case, every investor will make tons of money. So, this is the first reason to look at Merck & Co. stock when considering a long-term investment.
Composite rating:
The stock of Merck & Co. has received a composite rating of 81 out of 99, which is great. The composite rating tells us about any stock keeping in view the growth and decrement in the last 12 months. So, it is a strong indicator to look for Merck & Co. stock for investment. The composite rating of 81 puts Merck & Co. in the top 19% of stocks in the world of every industry.
Consensus rating:
Besides the composite rating, in terms of consensus rating, Merck & Co. succeed again. Out of 6 total investors, four investors said that it is a strong buy right now, one recommended that it is a good buy, and one investor said that it’s a sell. This also assures the future growth of the stock.
Stock forecasts:
According to gov. capital, exactly from one year now, in November 2022, the stock price of Merck & Co. will be around $147 on average. However, the highest prediction is $170, and the lowest is $125.
The same website claims that in the first quarter of 2025, its price will touch $350 on average. The highest prediction is $400, and the lowest one predicts it around $295. This also makes us realize the potential of Merck & Co stock.
Our opinion:
All of the above-mentioned stats and future predictions say the same. Investors and market analysts also agree with those predictions. So, it is for sure that if not more, the stock will make a handsome amount of bucks. So, Merck & Co. stock is absolutely a great investment if you are looking for a long-term investment opportunity.
FAQ’s
When did Merck & Co. go public?
In 1941, Merck & Co. announced its initial public offering. It offered around 202,372 common stocks at the price of $28.75. Merck was listed on New York Stock Exchange in 1946. Its stock symbol is MRK.
Does Merck & Co. pay dividends?
Yes, Merck & Co. does pay dividends. Its board of directors confirmed that a quarterly dividend of $0.65 will be paid by the company per share in 2021. The dividend growth rate is 1.56%, and the payout ratio is 90.44%.
Who is the auditor of Merck & Co.?
Deloitte is a well-known accounting firm based in Munich, Germany. In 2021, the board of directors of Merck & Co. announced that Deloitte is currently handling its auditing.
How much does Merck & Co. spend on R&D?
Merck & Co. is one of those companies which invest a lot in research and development. Last year, the company spent around $13.6 billion on research which was 27% more than 2019’s research budget.
What is it like to work at Merck?
Around 86% of the employees of Merck say that it is pleasant to work there. On the other hand, 59% of the employees of other US companies give this review. So, it can be estimated that working at Merck is nice.
What are Merck’s biggest drugs?
- Clarinex (To treat allergies)
- Fosamax (To treat bone-related diseases)
- Implanon (Used for birth control)
- NuvaRing (Birth control vaginal ring)
- Keytruda (Used in cancer treatment)
Does Merck make generic drugs?
Merck & Co. does make generic drugs. However, according to statista.com, Merck is not on the list of the top 10 generic drug manufacturers.
Where are Merck drugs made?
Merck has a lot of manufacturing units. The first unit was established by the company in 1902 in Rahway, New Jersey. They also have a vaccine production unit spread over 262 acres in Durham, North Carolina.
Are there two Merck companies?
Merck Group and Merck & Co. are two different pharmaceutical companies. However, in the past, Merck & Co. was the American subsidiary of Merck Group. Currently, there is no connection between them.
Executive Summary:
In this article, we discussed Merck & Co. in detail. After reading this article, you may have got a vivid idea of the company’s past and present.
Merck & Co.’s mission statement is to provide innovative and modern pharmaceutical products and services to make people’s lives easier and healthier. Merck is the 3rd largest American drug manufacturing company and still improving itself.
If the company keeps on working at this pace, the time is not far away when Merck will be listed as the world’s five largest pharma company.
