Merck’s core business is to discover and develop new medicines and vaccines that make a difference in people’s lives. Our commitment to CR extends to how we achieve this goal:

• By conducting our business with high ethical standards
• By engaging in activities to expand access to quality health care around the world
• By making a positive and sustainable impact on the communities and societies where we live and work
• By meeting the needs of our employees in a fair and just manner

Integrated into Merck's approach to CR is a commitment to transparency and constructive engagement with stakeholders. We recognize that issues that matter to key stakeholders can very quickly become material issues for our shareholders. Therefore, we seek to balance our responsibilities in ways that support our fiduciary duty to generate long-term shareholder value, while also considering the needs of other stakeholders. Our principles are:

At Merck, our business is discovering and developing medicines and vaccines that can make a difference in people's lives.

As a publicly held, research-based pharmaceutical company, our primary contribution is discovering, developing and delivering breakthrough medicines and vaccines that address unmet medical needs. But our mission also entails something more — contributing to the health and well-being of the people who take our products, as well as meeting the needs of our employees, neighbors and others in the global communities where we live and work.

Acting in a responsible manner over the long term serves the best interests of the people our programs benefit, as well as our shareholders.

By doing the right thing, we not only address emerging risks and identify potential opportunities to create value, but also help to build customer trust, which can help enhance our Company's reputation and improve our ability to play a constructive role in advancing good public policy – all of which help to further our business goals. We recognize that, more than ever before, companies, investors, government and the public are interested in how businesses conduct themselves, and they expect companies to demonstrate responsible and sustainable business practices.

Improving global health is one of the single most important contributions we can make to economic development around the world.

Doing so requires stable political and economic institutions and enduring partnerships among the private sector, governments and nongovernmental institutions. These public/private partnerships are the foundation of Merck's approach to corporate responsibility.

These principles are reflected in the way we think about and we conduct our business:

• Company decisions are driven by what is right for patients. Merck maintains high ethical standards and a culture that fosters honesty, integrity and transparency — even under the most challenging circumstances.
• Merck strives to improve the health of people worldwide through discovery, development and delivery of medicines and vaccines to address unmet medical needs and improve prevention and treatment of diseases. We believe that a solid, science-based approach is fundamental to this strategy and for this reason we actively support science education and initiatives to recruit a diverse and talented pool of biomedical scientists.
• Merck wants to ensure that patients have access to medicines and vaccines for the prevention and treatment of disease. We accomplish this in part through responsible pricing and by supporting innovative programs and partnerships that strengthen health care infrastructure. We also support initiatives to help build the capacity and know-how needed to improve health care, and we publish credible, unbiased health care information for patients and health care providers on a not-for-profit basis.
• We conduct our business in ways that ensure a safe and healthy environment for our employees and for the communities in which we operate.