Merck Proposes the Creation of a Global Alliance for the Elimination of Schistosomiasis

• Merck calls on different NTD constituencies to join and support WHO’s ambitious goal of schistosomiasis elimination

Darmstadt, Germany / Geneva, Switzerland, May 20, 2014 – Merck proposed the creation of a global alliance to help the World Health Organization (WHO) achieve its goal of eliminating schistosomiasis worldwide today in Geneva.

Merck will be a founding member of this new global alliance aiming to further support WHO’s goal of eliminating schistosomiasis. Merck calls for different NTD (neglected tropical diseases) constituencies to join on focusing efforts to address remaining gaps and challenges to meet the elimination target. Stefan Oschmann, member of the Executive Board of Merck and CEO Pharma, presented this initiative on the occasion of the 67th World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of WHO, in the presence of H.E. Hanny-Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Health of Ghana, and Dr. Hiroki Nakatani, Assistant Director-General Neglected Tropical Diseases of WHO.

Merck is committed to helping WHO to eliminate the worm disease schistosomiasis in Africa. As an important part of its responsible entrepreneurship, the company launched the Merck Praziquantel Donation Program in 2007. Praziquantel is well tolerated and the most effective treatment to date for schistosomiasis. Since then, more than 38 million children have been treated and over 160 million tablets have been donated.

Dr. Stefan Oschmann Member of the Executive Board of Merck CEO Pharma

While other neglected tropical diseases have demonstrated the value of inclusive alliances, as of today no alliance for schistosomiasis yet exists. “We see this initiative as a major development,” said Oschmann. “This alliance will allow the different constituencies to engage in a coordinated approach to best address the challenges on how to meet the elimination target.” Merck will work with WHO and partners to define the appropriate structure of this alliance to ensure its pragmatic operational functionality.

“We need to keep up the momentum in translating our commitments into actions, with Merck’s commitment to raise our annual donation up to 250 million tablets by 2016. We also need to ensure that our donation benefits the maximum number of children. The global alliance is a new opportunity to bring together all interested partners and create a new turning point for the elimination of schistosomiasis,” said Oschmann. “Providing the drug praziquantel is only one part of the solution; we therefore recognize the need to go beyond this and foster a holistic, integrated approach to supporting WHO in reaching the ultimate elimination target.”

Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis is a chronic disease recognized as the second most prevalent and devastating parasitic disease in tropical countries after malaria. It is estimated that more than 240 million people are infected and that around 200,000 die from it each year. This chronic disease, which is transmitted from parasitic worms, is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions where poor populations have no access to clean water and sanitary installations. People become infected with the disease by worm larvae mainly in freshwater, for example while working, swimming, fishing or washing their clothes. The miniscule larvae penetrate human skin, enter the blood vessels and attack internal organs. The infection rate is particularly high among children of school age.

Praziquantel, the only drug available to treat all forms of schistosomiasis, is designated by WHO as the “drug of choice”, providing a cost effective health solution to patients in need.

The Merck Praziquantel Donation Program
The Merck Praziquantel Donation Program was launched in 2007 in partnership with WHO. Since then more than 160 million tablets have been supplied and over 38 million children have been treated. In 2013, Merck’s annual donation doubled to 50 million tablets. At the beginning of 2012 Merck announced that it will fight schistosomiasis until the disease will be eliminated in Africa. To reach this goal the company will increase the annual donation up to 250 million tablets in the medium term. The further scale-up of the program will allow treatment of about 100 million children a year. The expanded Merck Praziquantel Donation Program will result in a financial commitment totaling around $ 23 million a year. In addition, Merck is also supporting an awareness program in African schools to explain the causes of schistosomiasis to children and teach them how to prevent the disease. To date, WHO has used the educational material in pilot projects in Senegal and Malawi. Furthermore, Merck is conducting research on a pediatric formulation of praziquantel for preschool children within the scope of a public-private partnership. So far, praziquantel tablets can only be administered to children over the age of six.

For more information about the fight against schistosomiasis, please click here.

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Merck is a leading company for innovative and top-quality high-tech products in the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. With its four divisions Merck Serono, Consumer Health, Performance Materials and Merck Millipore, Merck generated total revenues of € 11.1 billion in 2013. Around 38,000 Merck employees work in 66 countries to improve the quality of life for patients, to further the success of our customers and to help meet global challenges. Merck is the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company – since 1668, the company has stood for innovation, business success and responsible entrepreneurship. Holding an approximately 70% interest, the founding family remains the majority owner of the company to this day. Merck, Darmstadt, Germany is holding the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are Canada and the United States, where the company is known as EMD.

 

Merck Advances to Eighth Place in the 2012 Access to Medicine Index

Merck moves up nine places from previous rank 17 (out of 20), thanks to scaled-up efforts in its praziquantel donation program, and ongoing activities to promote better health solutions to populations in need

Darmstadt, Germany, November 28, 2012 – Merck announced today that it now ranks eighth in the Access to Medicine Index published today by the Access to Medicine Foundation. Merck has moved up nine places compared to the 2010 ranking. Every two years, the Access to Medicine Index benchmarks twenty pharmaceutical companies on the different activities and initiatives in promoting access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries.

“Merck has moved up to eighth place in this year’s Index largely because it has provided more information about its tiered pricing, management strategy and single-drug donation programs,” the Access to Medicine Foundation cited as reason why Merck has moved up nine places.

“Today, our efforts have been well recognized by the Index and serve as a measuring tool to monitor Merck’s overall progress in the access to medicine field. We are committed to pursuing and further developing our Access to Health activities in the future to achieve sustainable health solutions to all,” said Stefan Oschmann, Executive Board Member of Merck and Head of the Merck Serono division.

The Access to Health initiative at Merck was launched in February 2011 and has identified access gaps and opportunities to better meet the needs of underserved patients. Merck’s Access to Health initiative aims at bringing added value to the community at large, and is becoming an integral part of how Merck conducts business in a responsible, sustainable manner. Merck recognizes the complexity of bringing health solutions to the poor and understands that Access to Medicines Index objectives cannot be reached by the pharmaceutical industry alone. Complementarity, synergy and partnership among the different actors in health are needed to achieve a long-term impact and sustainable results.

Compared to 2010, Merck has today been recognized by the Access to Medicines Foundation in particular for several topics such as:

• Innovative research and development for a pediatric version of praziquantel to treat schistosomiasis, and adapting this drug and anti-diabetic medication. Glucophage; five collaborations for relevant diseases and two instances of intellectual property sharing.
• Introduced access to medicine charter with board-level responsibility, stakeholder engagement reflects initiatives for product donation and research and development targeting neglected tropical diseases, and provides detailed information about access strategy and policies.
• Transparent about lobbying and public policy positions, monitored and enforced codes of conduct for ethical marketing for employees and third parties.

Access to Medicine Foundation
The Access to Medicine Foundation is an international not for profit organization stimulating pharmaceutical companies to improve access to medicine to societies in need. Based in Haarlem, the Netherlands, the Foundation publishes the Access to Medicine Index, the first Index of its kind to rank pharmaceutical companies with respect to their efforts to enhance global access to medicine. The Foundation aims to advance access to medicine in developing countries by encouraging the pharmaceutical industry to accept a greater role towards improving access to medicine in less developed countries. Please find more information here: http://www.accesstomedicineindex.org

Access to Medicine Index
Access to medicines remains a very serious concern for billions of people suffering from disease and is still a primary challenge for the global health system. Reflecting the key role of the pharmaceutical industry in addressing the challenges of access, it is essential that the Access to Medicine Index’s approach to monitoring and evaluating the performance of the industry in this work is robust, balanced and comprehensive. The foundation every two years ranks 20 medium to large-size pharmaceutical companies with respect to their efforts to enhance global access to medicine. You can see the latest ranking as well as rankings from the past here.

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