Merck Publishes Annual Corporate Responsibility Report

KENILWORTH, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today published its 2016/2017 Corporate Responsibility Report. The report reflects the company’s performance in the areas of Access to Health, Employees, Environmental Sustainability and Ethics & Transparency.

“We continue to push the boundaries of science with the hope and expectation that our innovative solutions will lead to better health for generations to come,” said Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck. “That same commitment to overcoming the world’s greatest health challenges extends to how we operate as a responsible company -- building a sustainable business that contributes to a healthier world.”

The report highlights the progress Merck has made toward creating social and economic value for the company and its stakeholders. The report also highlights the company’s new environmental sustainability goals and its continuing support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community’s aspirations for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people by 2030.

Additional highlights from the report include how Merck is:

• Addressing 88 percent of the top 20 global burdens of disease with our products and pipeline, including cancer, HIV, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease;
• Improving access to quality maternal health care and family planning services for nearly six million women around the world through Merck for Mothers, our 10-year, $500 million global initiative to end preventable maternal deaths;
• Working to achieve 12 new environmental sustainability goals to manage the impact of our operations, supply chain, products and packaging;
• Increasing our use of diverse suppliers by nearly 60 percent throughout 2016, totaling more than $1 billion with companies owned by members of minority groups, women, veterans and individuals who are disabled or identify as LGBT;
• Continuing to develop a more diverse and inclusive workforce: in 2016, more than half of our new hires worldwide were women, and in the United States, 37 percent were from under-represented groups.

The company continues to use several external guidelines and measurement frameworks to inform the scope of its reporting, including the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Access to Medicine Index and the United Nations Global Compact.

Learn more about Merck’s approach to Corporate Responsibility and progress on key initiatives in the 2016/2017 Corporate Responsibility Report.

About Merck

For more than a century, Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical company known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and communities around the world - including cancer, cardio-metabolic diseases, emerging animal diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and infectious diseases including HIV and Ebola. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A.

This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline products that the products will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov).

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171102005356/en/