Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Collaboration to Improve Maternal Health through Expanded Access to Family Planning

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced that they will work together to expand access to family planning, a critical step in improving the health of women around the world. Merck intends to pledge up to $25 million over eight years as part of Merck for Mothers – the company’s 10-year initiative to reduce maternal mortality around the world. This pledge will be matched by the Gates Foundation as part of its commitment to family planning. These contributions will advance efforts to help reach United Nations Millennium Development Goal 5, which calls for a 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality and universal access to reproductive health by 2015.