Merck – innovative, specialized, international
Merck is a leading pharmaceutical, chemical and life science company with four strong divisions: Merck Serono, Consumer Health Care, Merck Millipore and Performance Materials. With over 40,000 employees in 67 countries, Merck’s success is based on a clear focus on research and development as well as profitable, high-margin specialties. In 2011, Merck’s total revenues increased by 11%, exceeding the EUR 10 billion mark for the first time in the group’s history.
The operational business is managed under the umbrella of Merck KGaA headquartered in Darmstadt (Germany). Around 30% of the company’s total capital is publicly traded, while the Merck family owns an interest of about 70% via the general partner E. Merck KG.
Merck is the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company
Our historical roots lie in Darmstadt, where Friedrich Jacob Merck acquired the Engel-Apotheke (“Angel Pharmacy”) in 1668. In 1827, Heinrich Emanuel Merck began the industrial-scale production of alkaloids, plant extracts and other chemicals. The successful export business in the United States led in 1887 to the establishment of a subsidiary in New York. Under Georg Merck, a grandson of Heinrich Emanuel Merck, Merck & Co. was formed in 1891. Following the confiscation of properties that took place as a result of World War I, Merck & Co. became an independent American company. The two companies are no longer linked to one another today – the only thing they still have in common is the name Merck. Merck & Co. holds the rights to the name within North America; outside this region the U.S. company operates as Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) or MSD Sharp & Dohme. Merck KGaA, in turn, holds the rights elsewhere in the world and operates in North America under the umbrella brand EMD, formed from the initials of Emanuel Merck, Darmstadt.
