Partners In Social Responsibility

At Merck Frosst, we believe that our responsibility as a corporation extends beyond our primary business, which is to respond to the health needs of society through the discovery and development of innovative medicines and vaccines. We have created partnerships to advance science education and medical research, support the communities where we do business and improve health in the developing world.

Advancing scientific knowledge and education
We focus on turning cutting edge science into breakthrough medicines that address significant unmet medical needs by supporting university-based and independent centres engaged in research in the field of medicine and that are aligned with our corporate objectives.

As one of Canada’s leading research-based pharmaceutical companies, Merck Frosst supports science education initiatives. At the university level, Merck Frosst offers student scholarships and other initiatives that reward excellence. The company also offers a four-month co-op program for more than 100 of Canada’s finest undergraduate science students. This program gives students the opportunity to work with leading scientists and to publish their research. Many Merck Frosst scientists have cross-appointments at major Canadian universities coast-to-coast.

Supporting our communities as individuals and as a company
We believe that an essential component of our corporate responsibility is to provide support to charitable or philanthropic organizations that benefit our society, from the local community, where Merck Frosst has a major presence, to the national level. As part of our Employee Giving Campaign, the company matches employee donations to three community organizations: West Island Community Shares, United Way/Centraide across Canada and the Merck Frosst Employees Charity Trust Fund.

Improving health around the world
The company seeks out and supports initiatives that foster disease education, prevention and care, and sustainable access to life-saving medicines in developing countries. Merck Frosst, in partnership with Health Partners International of Canada, a charitable Canadian medical organization, donates medicines for international humanitarian aid.

One of the most significant initiatives undertaken by Merck to help improve access to life-saving medicines in developing countries is the Merck Mectizan^TM Donation Program^®. This program is the single largest, long standing public/private partnership of its kind. Through this program, Merck has provided more than 850 million tablets of MECTIZAN^® (ivermectin) free of charge to people at risk of onchocerciasis (river blindness) in some of the poorest countries in the world. MECTIZAN^® halts the progression towards blindness thereby dramatically affecting the quality and duration of life. The program has grown and reaches more than 30 million people annually in more than 30 countries where river blindness is endemic. In 1998, the program was expanded to prevent lymphatic filariosis (commonly referred to as elephantiasis) in African countries where the disease co-exists with river blindness.

In 2000, the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP)—an initiative involving the Government of Botswana, Merck & Co., Inc. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—was established. The goal of the program is to support and enhance the national response to the HIV epidemic through a comprehensive approach with four strategic intervention areas: prevention, care, support and treatment. The Merck Company Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are each contributing $50 million over five years to the ACHAP initiative. This program is providing access to care and making long-lasting improvement to the healthcare infrastructure in Botswana.

Merck is also part of the Accelerating Access Initiative, a cooperative endeavour of UNAIDS, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank and other research-based pharmaceutical companies. Participants are committed to finding ways to broaden access while ensuring affordable, safe and effective use of drugs for HIV infections. Consistent with its commitment to increase access, in March 2001, Merck began offering its HIV/AIDS medicines CRIXIVAN^® (indinavir sulfate) and STOCRIN^® (efavirenz) to developing countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic for no profit. Significant discounts are offered to other countries meeting set criteria; more than 110 countries are eligible for discounted antiretrovirals.