Merck KGaA

Merck KGaA - the company was founded in 1668. Founder Friedrich Jacob Merck.

Performance indicators

2023: On the list of companies with the largest R&D costs

The chart shows 12 months of data as of April 2023.
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History

In the first half of the 19th century, Emanuel Merck created a factory at the family pharmacy to make everything necessary for pharmaceutical production. The first branch of the company outside Germany opened in London, the second in New York, the third in Moscow (1898).

2022

Imago BioSciences purchase $1.35 billion

On November 21, 2022, the American pharmaceutical company Merck announced the conclusion of an agreement on the purchase of Imago BioSciences (Imago). Read more here.

Payment of a €39m fine for obstructing sales of a competing contraceptive device

On October 25, 2022, the Spanish National Market and Competition Commission (CNMC) announced a fine against US-based biopharmaceutical company Merck & Co for violating antitrust laws. According to the regulator, Merck prevented sales of the contraceptive of the rival firm Insud Pharma.

We are talking about the generic (analogue) NovaRing (NuvaRing): this is a hormonal contraceptive ring produced by Merck. To bring generic to market, unlike the original product, the manufacturer does not need to conduct a full cycle of clinical trials. And therefore, the total costs associated with the release of generics turn out to be significantly lower compared to the original means. Generic drugs are manufactured and sold after the original product developer's patent expires.

Merck will pay €39 million for interfering with a competitor

Merck had a monopoly on contraceptive rings in Spain between 2002 and 2018, according to CNMC filings. At the same time, Merck's actions in 2017 interfered with the sales of a similar product manufactured by Insud Pharma. Moreover, Merck received a court order prohibiting a competitor from producing its contraceptive rings in Spain, where Insud Pharma has its main operations. Thus, Merck actually prevented sales of the Insud Pharma product around the world.

The Merck investigation was initiated in 2018 when CNMC conducted a review of the company's lab. In November 2019, the regulator opened disciplinary proceedings. And now it is reported about the imposition of a fine in the amount of €39 million. Merck said it disagreed with the decision and was considering various options for further action, including an appeal. ^[1]

2021

Purchase of respiratory and blood medicine manufacturer Acceleron Pharma

At the end of September 2021, Merck announced the purchase of Acceleron Pharma for about $11.5 billion, which will allow the first to expand its product portfolio. Merck has faced pressure to expand its sales beyond the cancer drug Keytruda, which accounts for more than a third of its revenue. It is among several companies seeking future popular drugs through acquisitions, including Sanofi, Pfizer, Amgen, Gilead Sciences and Roche. Read more here.

Branch of Women's Health Drug Manufacturer Organon

In early June 2021, Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced the separation of the manufacturer of women's health drugs Organon & Co. (Organon). In connection with the branch, Merck received about $9 billion from Organon. Read more here.

Cessation of development of two experimental vaccines against COVID-19 due to lack of the necessary results

At the end of January 2021, Merck announced that it would stop developing two of its experimental vaccines against COVID-19. Early trials have shown that these drugs are not capable of eliciting an immune response comparable to natural infection or other vaccines. Read more here.

2020: Buying vaccine developer Themis

In mid-June 2020, Merck acquired vaccine developer Themis. Read more here.

2017

Insurance company losses from cyberattack on Merck

In October 2017 , Verisk Analytics, one of the world's leading providers of big data collection and analytics solutions, estimated insurers' losses from cyber attacks on Merck.

According to estimates by experts at Verisk Analytics Property Claim Services, insurance companies can pay $275 million to cover the damage caused by a hacker attack to Merck's insured assets. The company itself did not comment on this figure and did not disclose uninsured losses.

Losses of insurance companies from a cyber attack on Merck were estimated at $275 million

Merck has not yet fully identified its losses, and especially not provided insurance companies with an estimate of the total amount of these losses, "Claire Gillespie, a spokeswoman for the pharmaceutical giant, told Reuters.

Merck does have insurance that covers some damage, she said. At the same time, Gillespie did not assess the company's own expenses for eliminating the consequences of a cyber attack.

Merck was among a dozen companies affected by the large-scale spread of the NotPetya virus at the end of June 2017. Due to this malware, the production of some Merck drugs and vaccines suffered, the company's activities were disrupted around the world.

Merck claims the company will be able to maintain a steady supply of its best-selling and life-saving drugs, but warns of temporary delays in the delivery of some other products.

According to Reuters, the cyber threat insurance service is poorly distributed outside the United States and is not cheap - from about $100,000 to $1 million. Such insurance policies usually cover the costs associated with data leakage, forensic examination, information recovery, etc. Insurance also allows you to compensate for losses to companies in the event of a website malfunction due to cyber attacks.

Sale of biosimilar business for 656 million euros

In early September 2017, Fresenius announced the closure of a deal to buy a biosimilar business from Merck. The transaction value is 656 million euros.

Most of this money will be paid out of Fresenius' own funds. Under the terms of the agreement, after the closure of the transaction, the company was supposed to transfer Merck about 156 million euros. The remainder will be paid in stages over several years. The rate of payments will depend on the results that the acquired unit as part of Fresenius will show.

Fresenius bought biosimilars business from Merck

At the time of the announcement of the transaction in April 2017, it was about the amount of 670 million euros. The price reduction is associated with a change in the stages of investing in research and development. Merck's spending on these targets is expected to reach €60m by the end of 2017.

A team of specialists working at Merck's facilities in Switzerland moved to Fresenius, as did Merck's entire biosimilars product portfolio.

According to Fresenius plans, the acquisition of Merck's biosimilar business will begin to generate profit before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) only in 2022.

Biosimilars are analogues of biopharmaceutical drugs with a close but non-identical parent molecule. These are, in fact, substitutes for some types of drugs, while having similar effectiveness. Merck focused on drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, the market size of which is estimated at about $30 billion.

The purchase of this business is noted to be in line with Fresenius' healthcare strategy aimed at manufacturing innovative drugs. The company intends to invest 1.4 billion euros in clinical research of biosimilars.^[2]

NoyPetya virus attack

The American pharmaceutical giant Merck, which was badly damaged by the June attack of the NotPetya ransomware virus, still cannot restore all systems and return to normal operation. This is reported in the company's report on Form 8-K, submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at the end of July 2017.

From the document, excerpts from which Bleeping Computer publishes, it follows that the attack by cyber scientists seriously affected Merck's global activities, affecting production, research and sales operations.^[3]

Merck Pharmgiant Still Unable to Recover From NotPetya Cyber Attack

By the end of July 2017, Merck had largely restored the packaging of products and partially - activities in the field of formulation development of dosage forms. The production of active pharmaceutical substances (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient, API) is still in the process of restoration, and the release of bulk dosage forms has not yet been resumed. The company's external production processes were not affected, the report said.^[4]

Despite what happened, Merck fulfills orders and ships products, apparently from the company's inventory. The manufacturer continues to supply its most important products, such as the antidiabetic drug Januvia, the immuno-oncological drug Keytruda and the drug Zepatier for the treatment of hepatitis C, but warned of a delay in other types of products.

The incident will have financial implications for the company. In particular, due to the forced downtime, Merck had to worsen its forecast for full-year profits. Now the indicator is expected in the range from $1.60 to $1.72 per share, while three months earlier the company predicted the indicator at $2.51- $2.63, The Financial Times notes^[5]

2015

In August 2015, the company announced a deal to acquire the American manufacturer of chemicals and reagents Sigma-Aldrich. The deal was supposed to take place in the fall of 2015. The amount of the transaction is $17 billion.

2013

In December 2013, Merck Group announced the purchase of Luxembourg-based AZ Electronic Materials SA - profile - the manufacture of chemical materials used in the production of electronics (including TVs and iPads). The amount of the transaction is £1.6 billion.

2010

The company acquired Millipore Corporation for €5.1 billion.

2007

The Merck group bought the Swiss company Serona, the leader in the European biotechnology industry.

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