Founded in 1668 by the pharmacist Friedrich Jacob Merck, the pharmaceutical company is today a world giant in the pharmaceutical field
Founded in 1668 by a pharmacist Friedrich Jacob Merck in Germany with a small pharmacy shop, Merck has today grown into a global science, pharmaceutical and technology company. Merck Group, one of the oldest science and technology companies in the world, celebrated its 350th anniversary in 2018.
Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family continues to own the majority of the publicly traded company group. Merck (Darmstadt / Germany) holds the global usage rights to the MERCK name and brand. The only exceptions to this are the United States and Canada. The company operates in these countries as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.
The company was founded in 1891 as a subsidiary of the German firm Merck KGaA, which was founded in 1668 by the Merck family. Merck & Co. was nationalized by the US government during World War I and was later established as an independent American company in 1917. In North America, Merck & Co. The original Merck company, based in Darmstadt, owns the rights to the Merck name. Merck & Co. is the world's seventh largest pharmaceutical company by market capitalization and revenue. Its headquarters are in Kenilworth, New Jersey. The company is ranked 78th on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest companies in the United States.
About Merck
Its historical roots are in Darmstadt, where Friedrich Jacob Merck bought the Engel-Apotheke (aka "Angel's Pharmacy") in 1668. In 1827, Heinrich Emanuel Merck began the industrial-scale production of alkaloids, plant extracts and other chemicals.
As a result of successful export activities in the United States, a subsidiary was created in New York in 1887. Under the chairmanship of Georg Merck, the grandson of Heinrich Emanuel Merck, Merck & Co. It was founded in 1891. Following the confiscation of property at the end of World War I, Merck & Co. became an independent American company.
These two companies are no longer linked today – now the only thing they have in common is the Merck name. Merck & Co. owns the rights to the name in North America, while the American company operates outside of this region as Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) or MSD Sharp & Dohme. On the other hand, Merck KGaA owns the rights in the rest of the world and operates in North America under the brand name EMD, which consists of the initials of Emanuel Merck, Darmstadt.