Merck in the US and Outside of the US
www.republika.co.id, 2002-09-11
Before it was known as Merck & Co. Inc, the oldest pharmaceutical and medicine was formerly known as Merck KgaA. A pharmacist named Friedrich Jacob Merck established it in Darmstadt, Germany in 1668. In 1827, Heinrich Emanuel Merck started mass-producing alkaloid, plant extracts and other chemical substances. Under Heinrich’s management, the company name changed to E. Merck Darmstadt. By the late 1800’s, E. Merck offered approximately 10,000 products that were also exported to numerous countries. In 1889, George E. Merck took over the New York office and established Merck & Co. in 1891. After the World War I, E. Merck lost some of its branch offices, including the New York-based Merck & Co. Merck & Co. became an independent American company and became the largest pharmaceutical company. The company’s head office is based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. To eliminate any confusions that might occur due global usage of the name Merck, in 1932, both Merck KgaA and Merck & Co agreed that the name Merck would be exclusively used in the US and Canada, while Merck KgaA would be used in Europe and other countries. Based on that agreement, Merck KgaA in the US was changed to EM Industries. Merck & Co companies located outside of the US or Canada, however, became MSD Shard & Dohme. Merck & Co sells its products under the Merck Sharp & Dohme label (excluding Germany). In the US, the company’s branches are named EM Pharma, EM Industries Inc. and EM Science. In Canada, the branch is known as BDH Inc.