Merck & Company (USA)

Merck was founded as a chemical manufacturer in Germany in 1668. Run by the Merck family for generations, the company moved to the United States in 1891 under the direction of George Merck. The company had a humble start as an importer of chemicals from Germany.

By 1897 sales in the USA topped US$ 1 million, George Merck became a US citizen in 1902 and shortly afterwards began manufacturing at Rahway in New Jersey and in St Louis.

The ties between Merck’s subsidiary in the USA and its parent company in Germany were served during the way, a break that became permanent, each thereafter pursuing its own path.

Merck continued as a chemical manufacturer until the 1930s, when it began to do research and development (R&D) in pharmaceuticals.  In the 1920s, the founder announced his core philosophy: Medicine is for the patient; not for the profits. The profits follow.

Two mergers, one in 1953 with Sharp & Dohme, a pharmaceutical firm and another with Medco, a prescription benefits management company, found Merck leaving its chemical production roots and moving exclusively to producing and selling pharmaceuticals.

A merger with Schering Plough increased the number of employees from 73,000 in 2008 to the 100,000 figure at the end of 2009.
Merck & Company (USA)

Vioxx by Merck

Vioxx (Rofecoxib) a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) was introduced to the market in 1999.  In 1994, Merck’s R&D program discovered Vioxx, one of a group COX-2 inhibitors, COX-2 inhibitors include over the counter medications such as Advil (ibuprofen) and Aleve (naproxen) that serve to reduce both pain and inflammation.

From 1994 through 1999, Merck navigated the Food and Drug Administration approval process, one that has incremental steps for approval. In May 1999 approved Vioxx for the relief of osteoarthritis symptoms and management of acute pain.

Merck made billions on profits from Vioxx. Vioxx was one of the major sources of revenue for Merck while on the market: It was marketed in more than eighty countries with worldwide sales totaling $2.5 billion in 2003.

In September 2004, Merck was forced to take Vioxx off the market after a three-year study demonstrated that Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients taking it for at least eighteen months. According to an epidemiologist study done by Graham, an FDA scientist, Vioxx has been associated with more than 27,000 heart attacks or deaths.

A May 2006 study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal stated that Vioxx may raise the risk of heart attacks for patients who took the RX for less than two weeks.
Vioxx by Merck