Merck

Merck & Co., Inc., known as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) outside the United States and Canada, is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey. Founded in 1891 as a U.S. subsidiary of the German Merck Group, it became an independent entity after its assets were seized by the U.S. government during World War I and repurchased in 1919. Merck is a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MRK. As of 2025, the company employs approximately 75,000 people and reported revenue of $65.01 billion, with a trailing twelve-month revenue of $65.76 billion in 2026. Its market capitalization was approximately $294 billion as of June 2026.

Merck is a global healthcare company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets a range of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products. Key product areas include oncology treatments, such as Keytruda, vaccines like Gardasil for HPV, and various animal health products. The company also has offerings for cardiometabolic diseases, infections, immunology, and neuroscience.

Merck operates as an active operating company, primarily as a plaintiff in patent litigation to protect its intellectual property. The company's patent litigation posture is reflected in its one tracked plaintiff case and zero defendant cases. This stance is typical for large pharmaceutical firms defending their branded drugs against generic competition. The case appearing in the Federal Circuit often indicates an appeal relating to patent infringement or validity.

The sole tracked case, Merck v. Apotex Inc. et al., involves Merck as the plaintiff against generic pharmaceutical manufacturer Apotex Inc. This specific case concerned patents claiming cladribine dosing regimens for treating multiple sclerosis, relevant to Merck's Mavenclad® franchise. A recent ruling in February 2026, by the Federal Circuit, found some of Merck's asserted patent claims in this litigation invalid as obvious, in favor of Apotex Inc. and Apotex Corp. This aligns with Merck's history of engaging in litigation to protect its drug patents from generic challenges.