Summary of Progress and Future Plans

Issue	Progress	Future Plans
1. Researching needed new medicines and vaccines	In 2006-2007, we launched seven new products. Our products address 60 percent of the top 20 global burdens of disease. As of July 31, 2008, we have 43 compounds in our Phase I-III pipeline. This is a strong return on our annual R&D investment of $5 billion. In each of 2006 and 2007, Merck signed more than 50 external agreements to leverage excellent and innovative science that is conducted outside of Merck. In January 2008, Merck agreed to provide financial support for the WHO/TDR Partnership Network, an independent global program of scientific collaboration.	To grow our pipeline with a focus on researching and developing first-in-class or best-in-class medicines and vaccines. To expand our interactions with public and private entities to understand and support key research priorities and opportunities, including for developing world diseases. To initiate development of a formal policy on posttrial drug access in 2008. To finalize principles for business practices involving the medical and scientific community.
2. Improving access to medicines, vaccines and health care	In 2006, we launched the ROTATEQ Access Program in Nicaragua and in 2007 the GARDASIL Access Program to support vaccination programs in the lowest-income, GAVI¹-eligible countries. In 2007, Merck adopted a new developing world pricing policy for our vaccines, which offers ROTATEQ and GARDASIL at significantly discounted or not-for-profit prices, based on countries' ability to pay. This complements our existing differential pricing policy for our HIV medicines. In November 2007, public health officials announced that transmission of river blindness had been halted in Colombia, the first time that the disease has been eliminated as a public health problem on a country-wide basis anywhere in the world thanks in part to the success of Merck's MECTIZAN Donation Program and a range of key partners. We have begun reporting on our website registration status by country for our newest vaccines and all of our HIV medicines. As of July 2008, more than 777,000 patients in 125 countries and territories were being treated with regimens containing at least one of Merck's anti-retrovirals (ARVs).	To continue to work with international groups such as the GAVI Alliance¹ to facilitate introduction of vaccines in the world's poorest countries. To continue to investigate opportunities to reduce the cost of our ARVs for people living in the world’s poorest countries and those hardest hit by the pandemic, including through working with external manufacturers and suppliers to achieve incremental efficiencies. To expand our presence in emerging markets and explore business models for all our products to reach new populations. We will report on developments in future reports.
3. Ensuring Confidence in the Safety and Quality of our Products	Of 71 Good Clinical Practice/Pharmacovigilance inspections conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory agencies worldwide during 2006 and 2007, none resulted in critical observations and none resulted in the rejection of any clinical study or regulatory filing. Since 2007, Merck has registered at trial initiation all clinical trials (Phase I-V) in patients that it sponsors and conducts worldwide on the ClinicalTrials.gov website. As of May 2008, Merck had published 218 clinical trial results on the ClinicalStudyResults.org website.	To continue to register at trial initiation all clinical trials in patients that the Company sponsors worldwide, at ClinicalTrials.gov. To continue to disclose results from all registered trials of marketed products regardless of outcome at ClinicalStudyResults.org in a timely manner. To continue to work to enhance and integrate our systems to identify, measure, control and sustain quality excellence in our products.
4. Conducting ourselves ethically and transparently	In 2007, the Office of Ethics launched an online global compliance training series to complement existing programs to provide employees with new tools and resources for making responsible business decisions. To date, 90 percent of Merck employees have taken the basic online ethics training, Know the Code, which reviews Merck's Code of Conduct. In October 2008, we plan to begin reporting grants provided by Merck's Global Human Health Division to U.S. organizations in support of independent accredited educational programs for health care professionals. In 2008, to formalize our historical practice of informing health care professionals about our products before we advertise them to the consumer, Merck adopted a policy requiring a minimum six-month time period following the approval of a new product before launching direct-to-consumer broadcast advertising.	To achieve 95 percent completion rate of new ethics training courses by required employee populations, including Know the Code, by the end of 2009. To disclose over time our financial support to medical, scientific and patient organizations globally. In January 2009, Merck will begin reporting grants/payments to other U.S. organizations as well as grants made in Europe and Canada. We will continue to expand our disclosure into other regions as we work to build the infrastructure and systems necessary to allow us to report this information on a global basis. To disclose in 2009 payments to physicians in the United States who speak on behalf of Merck and our products. To update our policies and practices in the United States by January 2009 to ensure compliance with the revised PhRMA Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals.
5. Managing our environmental footprint	At the end of 2007, we had reduced our demand for water at Merck facilities worldwide by 24.6 percent, exceeding our 2008 goal of reducing water use by 15 percent from a 2004 baseline. In 2007, we began to track our generation of non-hazardous waste. In 2007, Merck adopted a public policy on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, which describes our efforts to work with others to understand and evaluate the issue. In 2008, we adopted a public policy position on climate change, which outlines Merck's strategy to reduce our environmental footprint, including energy, water use and renewable resources goals.	To reduce the Company's total global greenhouse gas emissions by 12 percent by the end of 2012, from a 2004 baseline. To continue to work with stakeholders on the issue of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment to identify additional data needs and to conduct our own environmental risk assessments based upon the best available science.
6. Executing the Basics	Employee Practices In 2007, Merck initiated a new global diversity strategy linking compensation of managers and leaders to diversity and inclusion performance measures. In 2007, Merck introduced Health Matters to raise awareness of health issues and motivate employees to manage and improve their health and well-being. In 2008, we launched a consistent global approach to flexible work arrangements.	Employee Practices To increase global female representation at the senior manager level from 29 percent to 36 percent by 2012. To increase senior manager level employees from under-represented ethnic groups from 14 percent to 18 percent by 2012 in the United States. To raise awareness of our flexible work arrangements policy, increase employee satisfaction with flexible work opportunities and begin tracking global use in 2009. To reduce Company-wide and lost-time injury rates by 15 percent each, from the 2007 baseline by the end of 2008.
6. Executing the Basics	Supply Chain Management In 2006, Merck was one of the five initial companies to publicly support the Pharmaceutical Industry Principles for Responsible Supply Chain Management. In 2008, Merck expanded our supplier diversity program to the United Kingdom and Canada. In 2008, Merck's CEO and Executive Committee signed a supplier diversity commitment to reach 14 percent in 2008 and 17 percent by 2010 as a percentage of total applicable spend in the United States and Puerto Rico. To reach these aggressive goals, supplier diversity is now a corporate objective for all divisions.	Supply Chain Management To achieve 100 percent completion of Pharmaceutical Industry Principles for Responsible Supply Chain Management survey by existing external suppliers of pharmaceutical intermediates and compounds by end of 2008. To achieve 100 percent completion of Merck's preselection Detailed Suppliers Ethical Assessment by potential suppliers of new business globally by 2010. To develop formal mitigation plans for those items sources externally that are critical to ensuring our ability to supply finished product without interruption. Our target is to have plans for 20 percent, 60 percent and 100 percent of our suppliers that fit within this category for 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively. To expand our supplier diversity reporting in the United Kingdom and Canada by 2010.
7. Advocacy and Outreach	In 2008, we began to report on our website the portion of dues that major U.S.-based trade associations report to us as being used for advocacy and/or political activities where dues are more than $50,000. By June of 2008, we were in compliance with 10 of the 11 Center for Political Accountability criteria on its Model Code of Conduct for Corporate Political Spending.	To include in 2009 on our website all dollars spent globally on corporate political campaign contributions. We have provided this information for U.S. contributions since 1996. To report in 2009 externally on adherence to ethical business practices related to corporate political spending, as recommended in the 11th criterion of the model code of conduct from the Center for Political Accountability. To ensure that all of the major public/private partnerships (PPPs) in which we participate have clear annual performance requirements, where possible linked to the Millennium Development Goals. By 2010, we will work toward reporting on the percentage of PPPs that report annually against such requirements.

The content on this page was last modified on October 24, 2008.

¹GAVI Alliance is the acronym for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. www.gavialliance.org