Our group: Merck
Merck Group
Merck – innovative, specialized, international
Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical enterprise with around 40,000 employees in 68 countries.
The Pharmaceuticals business sector comprises innovative prescription drugs as well as over-the-counter products. The Chemicals business sector offers specialty products for the electronics, printing, coatings, cosmetics, food, pharmaceutical and biotech industries. The operational business is managed under the umbrella of Merck KGaA headquartered in Darmstadt (Germany). Around 30% of the company’s total capital is publicly traded, while the Merck family owns an interest of about 70% via the general partner E. Merck KG.
Merck is the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company
Our historical roots lie in Darmstadt, where Friedrich Jacob Merck acquired the Engel-Apotheke (“Angel Pharmacy”) in 1668. In 1827, Heinrich Emanuel Merck began the industrial-scale production of alkaloids, plant extracts and other chemicals. The successful export business in the United States led in 1887 to the establishment of a subsidiary in New York. Under Georg Merck, a grandson of Heinrich Emanuel Merck, Merck & Co. was formed in 1891. Following the confiscation of properties that took place as a result of World War I, Merck & Co. became an independent American company. The two companies are no longer linked to one another today – the only thing they still have in common is the name Merck. Merck & Co. holds the rights to the name within North America; outside this region the U.S. company operates as Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) or MSD Sharp & Dohme. Merck KGaA, in turn, holds the rights elsewhere in the world and operates in North America under the umbrella brand EMD, formed from the initials of Emanuel Merck, Darmstadt.
