Merck

Medicines and vaccines from a research-driven drugmaker

Merck & Co., Inc., based in Rahway, New Jersey, describes its ambition as becoming the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. It says it has spent more than 130 years developing medicines and vaccines, and its public website is built around three kinds of reader: patients looking for health information, investors who want financial results and presentations, and people interested in its sustainability work.

Where the science is concentrated

The company names a handful of areas where it concentrates its research and says it follows the science wherever it can make the greatest difference, now and in the future.

Cancer treatment

Its oncology work is meant to lengthen and improve the lives of people with cancer. Topics on its site include individualized neoantigen therapies and the value of acting early in cancer detection.

Vaccines

Merck says vaccines are among the great public health successes and that it has been discovering, developing and delivering them to help prevent disease for more than a century.

Infectious disease

The company develops medicines and vaccines to treat and prevent infectious illnesses, and it singles out HIV and Ebola as examples of the diseases it works on.

Cardio-metabolic conditions

It also says it is determined to find solutions for some of the most serious chronic health challenges, naming cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Clinical trials and patient information

Merck explains that clinical trials are how new treatments are found, and that its progress depends on the scientific questions it sets out to answer through trials and collaborations. The site points visitors to information about taking part in a trial and to a patient section meant to help people find the information they need on their health journey. For people who cannot afford a prescribed medicine, the company says it may be able to help and directs them to an assistance route.

Reporting and stories

For investors the site carries financial results, events, presentations, news and stock information, together with investor contacts. Its sustainability pages cover how the company says it operates responsibly to support a safe and healthy future for communities, including an annual impact report. Alongside this it publishes articles and video conversations about patients, scientists and workplace culture, plus Q&A pieces in which experts discuss progress in areas such as immunology.