Our history

Founding
Merck & Co., Inc. Rahway, NJ U.S. was founded on January 1, 1891. George Merck, age 23, established the company in the U.S. to distribute fine chemicals throughout New York City and the neighbouring areas. Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, U.S. is known as MSD everywhere outside of the U.S. and Canada.

George W. Merck became president of our company
George Merck’s son, George W. Merck, began his career in the packing and shipping department in 1914, and he received training in most branches of the business. He would lead the company through the 1927 merger with Powers-Weightman-Rosengarten Co. and turned his attention toward building research capacity, catalyzing the company’s reputation for innovation.

Synthesized Vitamin B1
We first synthesized vitamin B₁ and published the results in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The development allowed for mass production of the vitamin, and within a few years, the product had contributed to the reduction of vitamin B₁ deficiency (beriberi). In subsequent years, management committed the company to isolating and synthesizing vitamins and making them more widely available.

We entered the animal health market with sulfaquinoxaline
After years of extensive testing, we brought S.Q. (sulfaquinoxaline) to market. The product, used to prevent coccidiosis, a parasitic poultry disease, formally ushered MSD into the field of animal health.

Medicine is for the people
In a defining moment for the company, George W. Merck gave a talk at the Medical College of Virginia at Richmond, during which he made a famous statement about how the medical and pharmaceutical community could be successful:

“We try to remember that medicine is for the patient. We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear.”

This philosophy is embraced by our leaders and employees to this day.

The Foundation was created
MSD established the company’s Foundation, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to charitable giving, with an initial contribution of $500,000. To date, the Foundation has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to nonprofit organizations.

Treatment for trichinosis for animals discovered
In humans, trichinosis (caused by eating raw or undercooked meat) can cause high fever, muscle pain and swelling and other serious symptoms. In 1961, a research team led by Dr. William Campbell discovered thiabendazole, the first drug known to kill the trichinella parasite in sheep, goat, cattle and pigs. When the reindeer populations of the Arctic Circle became severely afflicted by parasitic infections, MSD scientists traveled north to treat them with THIBENZOLE (thiabendazole), a deworming agent.

The treatment not only helped protect the reindeer, but also the indigenous peoples who depended on them for survival.

First pneumonia vaccine was approved
PNEUMOVAX (pneumococcal vaccine polyvalent), MSD’s pneumonia vaccine, was approved. Research and development of the vaccine was carried out under the direction of Dr. Maurice Hilleman.

VASOTEC was approved by the FDA
VASOTEC (enalapril), an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor for treatment of high blood pressure and congestive heart failure, was approved by the FDA. VASOTEC became MSD’s first billion-dollar product in 1988.

MSD introduced the first commercial statin
We introduced lovastatin, the first of the statin family of medicines to be approved by the FDA. It emerged from decades of study by scientists in the U.S. and abroad, at universities, independent laboratories and at MSD.

INDINAVIR SULFATE approved by the FDA
INDINAVIR SULFATE, for the treatment of HIV, was approved by the FDA after a review period of 42 days. Prior to the FDA approval in 1995, in conjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, patients and HIV advocacy groups, MSD decided to offer the program. Through this program, we made the drug available at no cost to selective patients before it was commercially available.

MSD (THAILAND) Ltd.
MSD established a wholly owned subsidiary in Thailand. With this new structure, the company was better able to bring the best of MSD medicines to Thailand through the introduction of innovative therapies, conducting clinical research and supporting physician and patient education. With focus on our key therapeutic areas of Oncology, Vaccines, Diabetes and Hospital Acute Care, MSD is helping health professionals and other partners achieve excellence in patient care, clinical practice, and scientific research.

MSD’s HPV vaccine approved by the FDA
The FDA approved HPV vaccine [human papillomavirus quadrivalent (types 6, 11, 16, 18) vaccine, recombinant] for the prevention of cervical cancer caused by certain HPV types.

In 2007, MSD committed to donating 3 million doses of HPV vaccine over 5 years to support vaccination programs in the world’s lowest-income nations.

Global MSD for Mothers initiative began
In 2010, one woman died every two minutes during childbirth and pregnancy. Many of these deaths were preventable. In response, we launched MSD for Mothers, a global initiative with partners to improve the health and well-being of women before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth. As of 2019, the effort has reached more than nine million women globally in 48 countries.

MSD received accelerated approval of Pembrolizumab
The FDA approved Pembrolizumab, the first anti-PD-1 (programmed death receptor-1) therapy. It had previously received breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA.