The two are confused again and again – and yet the direct association between Merck KGaA in Darmstadt and the U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, ended a long time ago. Merck in Darmstadt is the oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company in the world – and still operates successfully today in both the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. Merck & Co. became an independent company after World War I.

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.

Similarly, the innovative pharmaceuticals business of Merck trades under the name Merck Serono everywhere in the world except for North America, where the division operates as EMD Serono.