Established in 1957 by Merck, The Merck Company Foundation is a U.S.-based, private charitable foundation and is Merck's chief source of funding support to qualified non-profit, charitable organizations. The Foundation marked its 50th anniversary in December of 2007.

Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed more than $560 million to support important initiatives that address societal needs and are consistent with Merck's overall mission to enhance the health and well-being of people around the world.

Click here for a timeline of The Merck Company Foundation.

The mission of the Foundation is to support organizations and innovative programs in alignment with the four priority areas outlined below. Major Foundation-supported programs aligned with our priorities are also noted.

• Increase access to medicines, vaccines and health care for underserved populations through strategic partnerships and capacity building. Key initiatives include:
  • The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships
  • China-MSD HIV/AIDS Partnership
  • Merck Childhood Asthma Network
  • The Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes
  • The Merck Vaccine-Network Africa
• Develop a diverse pool of world-class scientists through strengthening educational opportunities. Key initiatives include:
  • The Merck Institute for Science Education
  • The UNCF/Merck Science Initiative
  • AAAS/Merck Undergraduate Science Research Program
  • The Alliance/Merck Ciencia (Science) Hispanic Scholars Program
• Encourage environments that foster and support innovation. Key initiatives include:
  • Program on Pharmaceutical Policy Issues
  • Ethics Resource Centers
• Identify and initiate community projects that address critical quality of life issues. Key initiatives include:
  • Champions for the Environment
  • Disaster Relief
  • Neighbor of Choice Program
  • Partnership for Giving

Like the Merck Office of Corporate Philanthropy, The Merck Company Foundation also seeks to develop and initiate programs and partnerships that will help to improve the health and well-being of people around the world. The Foundation works with existing and new partners that we identify for collaboration in achieving the mission and goals of our programs and partnerships. Because the majority of our funding support is directed to specific initiatives or programs that we initiate and that support our giving priorities, we do not accept or respond to unsolicited proposals.

For a list of programs and/or organizations that the Company does not support, click here.

The content on this page was last modified on September 15, 2009.

Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA, and Schering-Plough Corporation, Kenilworth, NJ, USA, are now one company. We have combined our global operations under the name Merck & Co., Inc. We are working to update our corporate responsibility Web site to reflect our new, combined, global organization.