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Merck & Co.
A century-spanning pharmaceutical company, this global business grew out of the American branch of a much older German firm and became known for research-driven medicines and vaccines. Today it develops treatments and vaccines used around the world, including major work in oncology and infectious disease.
1 Audiobook
Merck's 1899 Manual of the Materia Medica
by Merck & Co.
About the author
Founded in 1891 in the United States, the company began as the American arm of Merck of Darmstadt, Germany. During World War I it was separated from the German parent and became an independent American company. Outside the United States and Canada, it is known as MSD, short for Merck Sharp & Dohme.
Over time, the business expanded from selling chemicals into large-scale pharmaceutical research, manufacturing, and global health work. Its best-known products have included medicines and vaccines in areas such as cancer, diabetes, and infectious disease, and the company has played a major role in the development and distribution of vaccines.
Today, Merck & Co. is headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and presents itself as a research-focused biopharmaceutical company. Its long history reflects both the changing science of medicine and the global growth of the modern drug industry.