Merck Publishes Corporate Responsibility Report

KENILWORTH, N.J., Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today issued its 2017/2018 global Corporate Responsibility Report. The report reflects the company's performance and progress in its four corporate responsibility priority areas of Access to Health, Employees, Environmental Sustainability and Ethics & Transparency. 

"Our company has an important role to play in tackling some of humanity's greatest challenges," said Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck. "By fostering a long-term, strategic approach to our business and our contributions to society, we can not only strengthen our future as a company but also fulfill our commitments to make this a better, healthier world for all."

The report highlights Merck's approach to creating social, environmental and economic value for the company and its stakeholders and the company's commitment to operate ethically and transparently. For the first time, the report includes cross-references to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) metrics. The report also highlights the company's contributions to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community's aspirations for improving the lives of the world's population – especially the poor – by 2030.

Highlights from this year's report include:

• Merck research in oncology has continued to advance, providing hope to a growing number of patients with different cancers.
• Approximately 65 percent of our vaccines were distributed outside the United States in 2017, up from just 28 percent in 2010, contributing to the global fight against disease.
• We have expanded the MECTIZAN^® Donation Program to reach up to 100 million more people per year through 2025 as part of the global effort to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.
• Through Merck for Mothers, our 10-year, $500 million global initiative to end preventable maternal deaths, we have improved access to quality maternal healthcare and modern contraception for more than 6 million women around the world.
• In 2017, we achieved a 31-percent increase of spend with diverse suppliers, after a 57-percent increase in 2016, exceeding our corporate goal to achieve $1.2 billion in spend with minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, LGBT-owned and disability-owned business enterprises.
• We progressed toward our 2025 goal of having more than 50 percent of our purchased electricity come from renewable sources by signing a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Invenergy. 

Learn more about Merck's approach to Corporate Responsibility and progress on key initiatives in the 2017/2018 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., USA

This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (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. 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 2017 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).

SOURCE Merck & Co., Inc.