KENILWORTH, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today a $300,000 cash donation to support non-governmental organization (NGO) partners working to eliminate river blindness (onchocerciasis) and lymphatic filariasis (LF) in Africa. The donation will be offered to 10 NGOs beginning this year, and will be administered through the MECTIZAN^® Donation Program (MDP), a public/private partnership established in 1987 following the announcement by Merck to donate MECTIZAN^® to control and eliminate river blindness.

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River blindness and LF are targeted for elimination in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Roadmap on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), and NGOs have long played a critical role in the broad partnership focused on achieving those targets. Grants will be given to support activities focused on the elimination of river blindness or LF, and will be offered to our partner NGOs who are directly involved in the distribution of MECTIZAN^®. Eligible NGOs will be able to request funds through an application process in which they will be required to secure a 50-50 matching grant, effectively doubling the resources to $600,000.

Through the MDP and its partners -- including endemic countries, NGOs, the WHO, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the WHO’s Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), the WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO EMRO), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department for International Development (DFID) and others -- more than 200 million people in 32 countries are reached each year. NGOs play a critical role in this partnership, facilitating community-led efforts to distribute MECTIZAN^® and educating people about the diseases. Since the inception of the program in 1987, Merck has donated more than 2.5 billion treatments for river blindness and LF.

"Since the MECTIZAN^® Donation Program began 30 years ago, Merck and its global partners have made great strides to control and eliminate river blindness and lymphatic filariasis. With both diseases now targeted for elimination, we hope this grant will enable our partner NGOs to achieve further progress toward that goal,” said Brenda Colatrella, executive director, corporate responsibility. The MDP's impact extends beyond its immediate health benefits. The program has been a catalyst in the formation of similar donation programs for other NTDs. Initially focused only on river blindness, in 1998, Merck expanded the MDP to include MECTIZAN^® for the prevention of LF in African countries where the disease coexists with river blindness. Further, the broad public-private partnership supports the training of community health care workers and strengthening distribution systems through which other medicines, vaccines and medical supplies can be delivered in resource-poor settings.

About Merck

For more than a century, Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical company known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and communities around the world - including cancer, cardio-metabolic diseases, emerging animal diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and infectious diseases including HIV and Ebola. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.

About the MECTIZAN^® Donation Program

The MECTIZAN^® Donation Program (MDP) was established at the Task Force for Global Health in 1987 to provide medical, technical and administrative oversight of the donation of MECTIZAN^® by Merck for the treatment of onchocerciasis. In 1998, MDP expanded its mandate to include oversight of the donation of albendazole by GSK to be distributed in conjunction with MECTIZAN^® for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis in onchocerciasis co-endemic areas.

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA

This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov).

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