Merck is a company with over 34,000 employees working in 55 countries and, with total sales exceeding £5,000 million in 2002, it features as a major player in the world-wide market. Pharmaceuticals account for some 44% of its turnover.

Merck has an extremely long history, being founded in 1668 in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1827, large-scale production was started on this site which still serves today as the company’s world-wide headquarters. An extensive export business was developed during the 19th century and subsidiaries began to be founded around the world. In 1889, Georg Merck took over the office in New York and established Merck & Co. The First World War saw Merck lose many of its foreign subsidiaries, among them Merck & Co in the USA, which has been a completely independent company since 1917.

Merck left the UK around the time of WW1 but did not return until 1970. Since then, it has re-established the Merck Group in the UK through its business in Pharmaceuticals – it has Ethicals, Generics and Consumer Healthcare (Seven Seas) operations - as well as in Speciality Chemicals, Laboratory Products and Laboratory Distribution. Some of its original activities in Dermatology and Radiology now operate outside of the group.

Merck has a vision to be number one in its core businesses. That means putting people first, not only when they are our customers. It recognises that it needs the right people, people with an entrepreneurial spirit, committed to finding innovative solutions and open to the challenge of lifelong learning. The company’s success is built on highly competent people with the motivation to turn our visions of today into tomorrow’s reality.

Merck is committed to attracting and developing talented people as an intrinsic part of its corporate culture. Over more than three centuries, Merck has developed a culture marked by a special responsibility for its employees and its businesses. In the face of today’s rapidly changing environment, it takes pride in the stability that its culture offers employees. It is a culture built to embrace change, not fear it.

Merck has a focused strategy for its pharmaceutical research and development and is continuing to make significant investment in the clinical development of drugs that address major medical needs and have the potential to be launched quickly on a global basis. Merck has core facilities located in Germany, France and the USA. These are complimented by a number of smaller units of specialised activity in Europe and North America.

The future will be built on a strong pipeline of innovative drugs and Merck has a number of projects in various stages of development including cutting-edge approaches in biological cancer therapy, innovative compounds with new mechanisms of action in Type 2 diabetes as well as projects in central nervous system and women’s health.

The oncology portfolio is based on novel biotherapeutic strategies that represent more selective modes of tumour destruction and have fewer side effects including monoclonal antibodies, cancer vaccines, angiogenesis inhibitors and immunocytokines. The cardiovascular research programme has also given rise to new indications for existing products; an example of this is its pioneering work in the oral treatment of chronic heart failure. Merck is currently making significant investment in their clinical development in order to make these promising drugs available to doctors and patients as soon as possible.

Merck Pharmaceuticals
Harrier House
High St
West Drayton
Middlesex, UB7 7QG.

Tel: 01895 452200
Fax: 01895 452301
www.merckpharma.co.uk

 

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