Merck’s business development and licensing team explain how they identify new opportunities to strengthen our robust R&D pipeline
June 1, 2023
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It takes a special kind of talent to find and secure the right deals to keep us at the forefront of innovation. Leaders from our business development and licensing team sat down to discuss how their work is a key component to building and maintaining a strong pipeline.
Here’s what you need to know:
01.
Harnessing our legacy
Our reputation for using leading-edge science can make business development connections easier, explains Lizabeth Leveille, vice president, business development.
02.
The speed and determination to get it done
Elizabeth Naldi-Jacob, vice president, business development, knows that having a direct line of reporting to the top is what sets Merck apart as a potential partner.
03.
Balancing the internal and the external
We have a one pipeline mindset, and each asset receives the same focus and rigor whether it comes from inside our company or out, says Christopher Mortko, vice president, business development.
04.
Working hand-in-hand with our scientists
Grace Han McMahon, associate vice president, business development, explains why engaging our internal science leaders is crucial to making the right deals.
05.
What we’re interested in (and why it’s everything)
Our panelists discuss why we focus on five key areas — and when we’re willing to look beyond them.
Great partnerships begin with great conversation. Learn more about how discovery & development and licensing shape the future of Merck.
Here for Good: Bridging the gap between bedside and bench
Members of Merck’s lung cancer clinical development team say working in the hospital inspired their drive to innovate for patients
May 24, 2023
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Dr. Ayman Samkari remembers how treating patients during his medical school rotations brought him face to face with the unmet needs of people with cancer. He learned to listen to what matters for patients beyond their diagnoses, and he sought new ways to make a greater impact as an oncologist.
Watch Samkari and Dr. Nazly Shariati discuss their passion for their work:
“Even though I enjoyed every moment of practicing medicine and treating patients with cancer, I had the question at the back of my mind: How can I do things differently? How can I improve patient outcomes?” recalled Samkari, who now works for Merck as executive director in oncology clinical development. “That’s what drove me to pursue my career in clinical research, where I could help patients on a larger scale.”
And after 25 years as a surgeon, when a hand ailment ultimately sidelined her in the operating room, Dr. Nazly Shariati found that research was another avenue to help more patients.
“Merck allowed me to not only fulfill my goals in life and my career but continue on my path to have an impact on patients’ lives.”
— Dr. Nazly Shariati
Senior principal scientist in oncology clinical development
From careers in clinical care to careers in research
Samkari’s background as an oncologist, and Shariati’s as a surgeon, have informed their work in our lung cancer clinical development program. All too familiar with the challenges of treating patients with advanced disease, Samkari and Shariati are shifting their research to investigating lung cancer at its earlier stages, before it has spread, when it’s more likely to be successfully treated.
When she was a cardiothoracic surgeon, Shariati often felt a sinking feeling whenever a patient’s lung cancer would return, which is common among people diagnosed with lung cancer that was removed surgically. But today she’s excited by scientific advances in resectable lung cancer focused on helping more patients.
Understanding the patient experience
Shariati said understanding the patient experience is what drives a researcher’s passion, innovation and desire to help others.
“It is very important to have that experience in managing and seeing patients because it gives you a completely different perspective on how you conduct your work.”
— Dr. Ayman Samkari
Executive director in oncology clinical development
Each day, Samkari and Shariati continue to push the boundaries in research to help make a difference for people living with cancer.
VIDEO: Patient with PAH shares her clinical trial experience
Diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension, Colleen Brunetti knows the importance of participating in clinical trials
May 15, 2023
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Colleen Brunetti is a wife and a mother of two who lives with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) — a rare disease that affects the pulmonary arteries. She’s passionate about helping others affected by PAH and focused on helping the medical community by participating in clinical trials.
Patient volunteers like Brunetti are central to the success of clinical trials. Diverse participation is essential as different people may have different reactions to the same treatment, based on their age, gender, weight, race, ethnicity, lifestyle or severity of illness or disease.
“I'm acutely aware that without clinical trials, we don't move forward.”
— Colleen Brunetti
Participating in a clinical trial requires a supportive team
In addition to her doctors, Brunetti’s family is a key part of her support team. She said it’s vital to be open and understanding of the impact clinical trial participation may have not only on yourself, but also those around you. She added that talking, asking questions and learning more about the benefits and risks of a clinical trial is critical.
“We work as a team together to decide if a clinical trial, or anything that I need, is in my best interest,” she said. “No matter what you go through, there’s going to be changes. Having heart-to-heart conversations about what that looks like and what might need to be adjusted is really important.”
What Brunetti considered when joining a clinical trial
Brunetti said she encourages anyone considering joining a clinical trial to understand that “your doctor has to be your teammate.” She said questions will come up, like:
Will I receive the medicine or the placebo?
What kind of side effects might I anticipate?
How am I going to manage this?
What happens if there’s an emergency?
“If it’s not for you, that’s OK,” she said. “But if you can, I would encourage people to jump in with eyes wide open.”
Why it’s so important to participate in clinical trials
Clinical trials are research studies with volunteers designed to learn more about how our bodies respond to medicines, vaccines, medical devices or other treatments. It may take many clinical trials to understand which treatments work and how they work.
Are you thinking about joining a clinical trial?
Learn more about clinical trials
Our medical advances can only happen through the efforts of many people, especially the patients who volunteer for clinical trials.
Individualized neoantigen therapies: exploring one medicine for one patient
Scientists are researching new ways to help train the immune system to fight cancer
April 13, 2023
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Over the past decade, immunotherapy has transformed our understanding of how the immune system can be used to help fight some types of cancer. However, for the last 50 years, scientists have been researching how we could potentially use vaccines to treat cancer — another investigational approach to harness the immune system to help recognize and destroy cancer cells — with little success.
Now we’re looking at a potential therapy that is building upon the learnings of immunotherapy trials from the past and incorporating that into an individualized cancer approach that’s specific to a patient’s own tumor. Researchers are currently exploring the potential of individualized neoantigen therapies to help fight cancer.
Cancer research is becoming more personalized
Cancer is a result of the body’s own cells undergoing mutations which create abnormal proteins in cancer cells, known as neoantigens, that are not usually seen in normal cells. These mutations are unique to each person’s tumor, so that’s one of the reasons why patients who have been diagnosed with the same type of cancer and who have received the same type of treatment may have different responses.
As the treatment of cancer continues to evolve and advance, researchers are focusing on more individualized approaches. This includes a new area of research into individualized neoantigen therapies that use information from a person’s tumor biopsy sample to help develop a therapy unique to their tumor’s mutations.
“This area of research has really captured our imagination of what’s possible in the development of cancer therapeutics.”
Dr. Jane Healy Vice president and head of oncology early development at Merck Research Laboratories
In collaboration with Moderna, we’re studying this area of research in an effort to advance more individualized approaches to help improve outcomes for people living with cancer.
Learn more about individualized neoantigen therapies
By Dr. Joerg Koglin, senior vice president and head of general medicine and global clinical development
April 5, 2023
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According to the American Heart Association, 127.9 million adults in the U.S. — nearly half of all U.S. adults — have some type of cardiovascular disease. And the implications can be very serious. In fact, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., claiming approximately 940,000 lives each year (based on 2022 estimates). There are many types of cardiovascular diseases, one of which is heart failure. Heart failure is when the heart cannot pump properly so that it doesn’t fully support the body’s need for oxygen and blood. And that is where my specialty and passion lie. As a cardiologist, I learned and study how cardiovascular diseases develop to try to find ways to help manage conditions that impact so many people around the world.
For years, I worked in one of the largest European academic centers focused on heart failure and cared for patients with this chronic, progressive condition. I saw how this disease affected my patients’ lives and what it meant to live with its symptoms: swollen feet, legs and ankles; shortness of breath; persistent coughing; and fatigue.
After many years as a physician treating individual patients in a heart failure clinic, I joined the Merck research team to try and impact patient care at a larger scale, but I still carry my patients’ stories with me. I remember the father trying to keep up with his kids, losing his breath just climbing the bleachers at a game. The husband who was waiting on the heart transplant list, but ran out of time. My patients’ struggles with heart failure and the impact it had on their families is what drives my desire to make a difference. They are a big part of why I’m at Merck today, working with a team of world-class scientists to try to advance heart failure research.
Our focus is on trying to help people with heart failure, which impacts more than six million Americans — a number that is expected to grow to over eight million by 2030. We’re working with a sense of urgency because the prognosis for people with heart failure is poor.
While heart failure is a challenging disease, I’m hopeful about the future of research. More than 60 years ago, my colleagues at Merck delivered their first advance in cardiovascular disease and, today, we’ll keep pushing heart failure research forward.
While science pushes forward, it’s important for all of us to take steps today to protect our hearts by living as healthy a lifestyle as possible. The advice I try to follow myself is all about creating healthy habits: eating healthy food, which means more fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods; maintaining a healthy weight; getting regular exercise and not smoking. With the busy and hectic lifestyles many of us lead, it can be hard to fit it all in every day, but every little bit counts. I’ve found that in life as in science, small steps, coupled with persistence and dedication, can help make a difference.
The American Chemical Society Landmark program recognizes important contributions to modern life through chemical sciences
March 2, 2023
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Scientific achievements can significantly alter the course of history — for individuals, families and communities as well as for future scientific developments. We’re proud to have been recognized for our own contributions to science by the American Chemical Society (ACS), which has granted Merck four National Historic Chemical Landmarks (NHCL) designations since 1999.
This ACS program recognizes seminal achievements in the history of the chemical sciences and provides a record of the contributions to chemistry and society in the U.S. Our Rahway, New Jersey, site has been recognized three times. Our West Point, Pennsylvania, site has been recognized once for our important work there.
Learn more about these groundbreaking landmark achievements:
01.
Discovery and development of medicines for the treatment of HIV
In the early 1980s, as AIDS began to be perceived as a potential epidemic, scientists at Merck embarked on an urgent mission to understand the virus. They were among the first to discover and develop medicines for the treatment of HIV. Our company’s work in this space ultimately led to the development of a treatment that was important in helping to make HIV a survivable infection.
ACS honored the discovery of this life-saving treatment with the NHCL designation in 2022 at our site in West Point, Pennsylvania.
Development of a treatment against a debilitating infectious disease transmitted by parasites
Transmitted through the bite of black flies — which live and breed near fast-flowing streams and rivers — river blindness (onchocerciasis) is one of the leading causes of preventable blindness worldwide. In 1978, Dr. William Campbell of Merck Research Laboratories suggested the use of Mectizan (ivermectin) against river blindness in humans. In the early 1980s, Dr. Mohammed Aziz collaborated with WHO to successfully design and implement field studies in West Africa on the disease.
In 1987, Merck CEO Dr. Roy Vagelos announced our company’s commitment to donate Mectizan to treat river blindness — as much as needed, for as long as needed — and the Mectizan Donation Program was formed. Through the MDP, the work of Dr. Campbell and other Merck scientists continues to touch more than 300 million lives each year. In 2015, Dr. Campbell shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his role in developing ivermectin.
ACS honored the discovery of ivermectin with the NHCL designation in 2016 at our site in Rahway, New Jersey.
Addressing vitamin deficiencies through the synthesis and mass production of vitamin B
In the 1930s and 1940s, Merck scientists reported a series of advances in the study of the vitamin B complex, a group of nutrients that is essential to cell functioning. Availability of these vitamins resulted in dietary supplements and vitamin-enriched foods that encouraged healthy growth and development, as well as treatments for diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies.
These achievements were outstanding examples of the rapid advances occurring in the fields of biochemistry and organic chemistry during this era and led to notable improvements in human and animal health and nutrition.
ACS honored our research on the vitamin B complex with the NHCL designation in 2016 at our site in Rahway, New Jersey.
04.
Producing large-scale quantities of penicillin, a much-needed antibiotic during WWII
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, but it was very difficult to produce in large quantities. With the outbreak of World War II, the need for life-saving penicillin skyrocketed, and the mass production problem had to be solved quickly. At the request of the U.S. government, Merck and other pharmaceutical companies expanded research in the hopes of producing adequate supplies of this vital antibiotic. In cooperation with competitors, our research team helped develop a submerged fermentation process that sped production of penicillin for both the war effort and civilian use.
ACS honored the discovery of this life-saving treatment with the NHCL designation in 1999 at our site in Rahway, New Jersey.
Our history
For over 130 years, we’ve been guided by the view that great medicines and vaccines change the world.
“We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits.”
Testing experiments in a lab can be a lot like raising kids. Sometimes your molecules do what you want them to do, and sometimes they don’t. But it’s a challenge Denarra Simmons, a senior scientist at Merck and a mother of two, is always up for.
“You’re constantly trying to find other medicines because all medicines don’t work the same way for all people,” Simmons said.
“You spend the long nights thinking about experiments, how to make things better, how to move things faster to help more people.”
— Denarra Simmons
Simmons has been curious about how and why things work for most of her life. As a young child, she peppered her family with questions, trying to understand the “why” behind anything and everything. But it wasn’t until a man in a lab coat came to her grade school to talk about his career that she realized what her true passion was.
“He wrote an equation on the board and was talking about how people made medicines, and I thought that was fascinating,” Simmons said. “But the thing that really drew my attention was how excited he was when he was explaining what he did. I wanted to do something that I would love that much and over time, I realized that for me, it was science and helping people.”
For 12 years, Simmons has funneled that passion into her research at Merck. Simmons works in drug development to test the efficacy and safety of our biologic medicines used for investigational new drug (IND) enabling studies.
“Working in the lab is my favorite part of my job — and getting good data."
Some days in the lab may be more successful than others, and Simmons uses it all to show her children what it takes to be a scientist. “Good days are celebrated, and the tricky days, we keep working towards improving,” she said.
Simmons also feels strongly about teaching her children that there’s more to life than work.
“I’m always thinking about the experiments, but when I’m home with the children, I really try to give them the attention and time they need,” she said.
But once her daughter and son finish their homework and head to bed, Simmons finds herself thinking about her next set of experiments.
“When you find out a medicine you worked on has helped so many people, you feel really special and you know all the work has been worthwhile,” she said. “And that’s why you’re doing what you do: you’re making a difference in society.”
Our people
In Burkina Faso, a personal mission to make a difference in one community
Merck colleagues found non-profit to provide critical resources for a village in one of the poorest countries in the world
November 23, 2022
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Challenging life experiences united two Merck colleagues — Jules Millogo and Cathy Hoath — on a mission to create opportunities and break the cycle of poverty in the small village of Konkourona, in the West African country of Burkina Faso.
Homelessness, hunger and illness in Konkourona
Konkourona is where Millogo, director, medical affairs, global vaccines, grew up with extremely limited access to health care, education, clean water and the bare necessities. It’s also where he witnessed six of his siblings pass away from preventable diseases. Millogo’s father was a strong believer in education and sent him to attend the nearest school in another village, which was hours away from Konkourona on foot.
Despite experiencing much communal trauma growing up, Millogo graduated from medical school and began his career in a Burkina Faso province far from Konkourona, serving as the only doctor for a population of 250,000.
“I somehow managed to overcome bouts of homelessness, hunger and illness from infectious diseases that often come with extreme poverty,” said Millogo. “I grew up knowing that I needed to make a difference in Konkourona and bring opportunities and hope to the people living there.”
Forming Konkourona Alliance Foundation (KAFO) to fight for opportunity and equity
When Millogo joined Merck, he met Cathy Hoath, senior director of regulatory affairs international, vaccines. Hoath was born in Booth Memorial Hospital for Unwed Mothers in Philadelphia, after her teenage birth mother was thrown out of her parents’ home and was unable to find a job or apartment. That experience fuels Hoath’s drive to fight for equity and opportunities — for women, children and all who want to create better lives for themselves and their communities in the U.S. and around the world.
In 2019, during a meeting with the World Health Organization to register our company’s Ebola Zaire vaccine in the countries at highest risk in Africa, Millogo and Hoath began discussing ways they could support development in Konkourona. A few months later, they co-founded the non-profit organization Konkourona Alliance Foundation (KAFO), Inc.
“It was the perfect convergence of my professional and personal worlds, giving me the chance to fight for greater opportunity and equity for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.”
Cathy Hoath
Because remote villages like Konkourona are often referred to in development efforts as “the last mile,” they named their effort “The First Mile Development Program.” The people of Konkourona are KAFO’s highest priorities.
KAFO builds foundation for education
Millogo and Hoath have met many like-minded people — both within our company and beyond — who have become supporters of KAFO since its founding. And they’ve made good progress in Konkourona.
New classroom with desks and textbooks for each child
KAFO has built three new classrooms — reducing class sizes from approximately 90 to 45 students — as well as an office and housing for teachers. It also renovated an existing building for use as a library.
Approximately 400 students are now receiving assistance, from books and tutoring to tuition and bicycles so older students can make the two-hour journey to the closest upper-level school.
Students are making educational progress
Previously, only one or two students per year progressed to middle school. Now, in just a couple of years, over 80 students are continuing their education at middle school and beyond.
“In 2020, we began providing books for each child because there were not nearly enough. We also opened the school at night — the only place in the village with electricity — and offered tutoring services. That year, 20 children passed the middle school entrance exam — which is unheard of in any school in this sub-region,” said Hoath. “In the past two years, 63 additional students have progressed to middle school.”
Eric is a mentor to the younger children and a role model for what can be achieved with an opportunity and hard work.
One of those students is Eric, who couldn’t afford tuition for middle school. His father died, and he had to help his mother, so he got a job on Millogo’s brother’s farm. Now, through KAFO’s sponsorship, he’s going to high school. He’s also helping to sustain the program long term by mentoring younger children and working with the team on the ground to secure books and bicycles.
He’s now thinking about what he may want to study in college — a dream that would not have existed just several years ago.
“We have high hopes for this thoughtful young man,” said Millogo.
Improving access to health care and clean water
The maternal and child mortality rates in Burkina Faso are among the highest in the world. In addition to a lack of health care resources, the villagers also had very little access to clean water.
“One of the biggest problems we face in Konkourona is water-borne diseases,” said Millogo. “People drink water from wherever they can find it — open ponds or other sources contaminated with human and animal waste and other pathogens.”
Clean water is now widely available for drinking and washing
Working closely with the Mami Siara Na Association, a community-led organization created in 2019 to partner with KAFO to lead and sustain development efforts on the ground, the team has now constructed three water towers, three community fountains, a health center for mothers and children, a separate facility for primary care, a pharmacy, latrines, housing for health care workers and an incinerator.
“Providing access to clean water in Konkourona is practically a revolution.”
Jules Millogo
“And the health care facility, where we can provide critical maternal care, immunizations, and primary services for children and community members — like caring for illnesses, wounds, etcetera — will have a significant impact for this community in many ways,” said Millogo.
Providing economic development and hope for a better future
Konkourona’s new — and first — pharmacy
The improvements in education and health care have sparked local economic development as well. There are new jobs in Konkourona to ensure continued access to education, health care, water and sanitation, not to mention those related to construction activities.
Over the next five years, Millogo and Hoath plan to build a middle school, a technical school and a high school, as well as housing for teachers in these schools. They also plan to expand the health center.
“We’re all in on this program and learning every day how to do new things — things we don’t have experience in — to make progress in Konkourona,” said Millogo. “We’re fortunate that we’ve received so much support from so many people to help make these important visions a reality. And, we’re just getting started.”
Millogo plants one of the 1,100 native shade and fruit trees KAFO donated to provide an alternate food source and replenish what has been lost over the past few decades.
Worker sets up almost $500,000 of equipment and supplies in one of the new health center buildings. Green barriers surround two of the 1,100 trees KAFO planted earlier in the year as part of a reforestation effort.
Villagers celebrate the opening of the new — and first — health center.
At a celebration for the new health center, Millogo expresses gratitude to the people all over the world who are helping support KAFO's efforts in Konkourona.
New latrines built around the health center will help keep the environment clean by encouraging people to transition toward better sanitation.
The librarian in Konkourona's first library talks about the variety of books now available to villagers. Previously, the only type of book available in the village was a small supply of textbooks.
Konkourona consists of roughly 4,000 subsistence farming inhabitants, who use nearly all crops or livestock to maintain the farmer and the farmer's family. This farmer is milling grain for storage.
Walking is the primary form of transportation in the village, but the fortunate families have bikes. Through sponsorships, students now have access to bikes to make the two-hour journey to upper level schools in other villages.
Donations from Care and Share Thrift Shoppes will help hundreds in Konkourona (left to right: Sarah Bergin, executive director of Care and Share Thrift Shoppes, Hoath and Millogo)
Sustainability
How we’re prioritizing supply
Learn how our teams mobilized like never before to ensure we were ready to address a global need
August 24, 2022
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From the earliest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew we had a responsibility to mobilize and innovate to rise to the challenge of this unique moment.
How vaccines can help prevent certain infectious diseases
By following recommended vaccination schedules, you can help protect yourself and loved ones from vaccine preventable diseases
July 28, 2022
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Managing your health can be tough. In recent years, we’ve been reminded how our health is truly global. Even though we’re worlds apart, what affects one could affect all.
Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do to help keep yourself and your family healthy. By staying up to date on recommended vaccinations, you can help prevent a variety of infectious diseases.
Health care providers are ready to help protect you. Talk to your health care provider about recommended vaccines for you and your family.
Infants and children
Adolescents
Adults
Your health care provider can help
When you’re preparing for an appointment, here are a few suggestions:
Create a list of questions to ask your doctor about your recommended vaccines.
Keep your doctor up to date on any changes to your child’s or your own health since the last visit.
Discuss any concerns about your child’s or your own health.
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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 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov). No Duty to Update
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