Performance by Technical Area

Has a strong access-to-medicine strategy with executive-level responsibility. Merck & Co., Inc. is one of 14 companies that performs strongly with regards to its access-to-medicine strategy which includes access-related goals, and aligns with its corporate strategies. The strategy centres around R&D, manufacture and supply, registration, commercialisation and community investment. The highest level of responsibility for access sits with the executive committee, which reports to the board.

Financial and non-financial access-related incentives to reward employees. Merck & Co., Inc. performs strongly in encouraging employees to work towards access-related objectives. It is one of 14 companies to have both financial and non-financial incentives in place to motivate employees to perform on access-related issues. These incentives include a human resources performance strategy to reward employees. 

One of 16 companies working on impact measurement. Merck & Co., Inc. measures and monitors progress and outcomes of access-to-medicine activities. It also publicly reports on commitments, objectives, targets and performance information. For example, for its activities based on its Institutional Business Africa principles, the company reports having vaccinated 120,000 girls in Rwanda for HPV. Furthermore, it is one of the companies that is measuring the impact for at least one access initiative, the Informed Push Model. 

Discloses who it engages with, incorporates local perspectives into strategies. Merck & Co., Inc. publicly discloses which stakeholder groups it engages with on access issues, but it does not publicly share its process for selecting who to engage with, nor its policy for ensuring responsible engagement. It does incorporate local stakeholder perspectives into the development of access strategies. 

Has measures to ensure third-party compliance with ethical marketing and anti-corruption standards. Merck & Co., Inc. has a code of conduct relating to ethical marketing and anti-corruption. The company provides regular compliance training for employees via classroom courses and online classes. The company provides evidence of having formal processes in place to ensure compliance with standards by third parties. Yet, expected performance for sales agents is based solely on sales targets.

Internal control framework meets some Index criteria. Merck & Co., Inc.'s internal control framework to ensure compliance meets some of the criteria looked for by the Index. Namely, it has an auditing and review mechanism in place, involving both internal and external resources and applying to third parties, in all countries the company operates in. It does not, however, report fraud-specific risk assessments, nor does it demonstrate evidence of a monitoring system for non-compliance in the workplace, or procedures to segregate duties, to ensure decisions are checked by another party. 

Average transparency regarding access-related practices. Merck & Co., Inc. publicly discloses its policy positions on access-related topics (e.g., its position on intellectual property and counterfeit medicines). It does not disclose political contributions in countries in scope. The company discloses its membership of relevant institutions and whether it provides financial support. It publicly shares standards for engagement with stakeholder groups through its code of conduct. It does not, however, publicly disclose its policy approach to payments made to healthcare professionals in countries in scope.

Publicly commits to R&D to meet public health needs. Merck & Co., Inc. has publicly committed to R&D for diseases and countries in scope. Its R&D strategy for low- and middle-income countries is informed by an evidence-based public health rationale including internal assessments and calls for action from external sources like WHO. It does not report time-bound strategies for completing R&D projects for diseases in scope. Merck & Co., Inc. has a mid-sized pipeline in the Index with 50 projects. For diseases in scope where priorities exist, Merck & Co., Inc. is active in 18 projects; 12 of these target priority R&D gaps.

Access provisions in place for 5% (2/44) of late-stage candidates. Merck & Co., Inc. has a clear process in place to develop access plans during R&D. The process considers some R&D projects for diseases in scope, namely projects for neglected tropical diseases in least-developed countries. Information is publicly available on project-specific access provisions for two of Merck & Co., Inc.'s late-stage R&D projects. Both projects are being conducted in partnership.

Public policy to ensure post-trial access; no stated commitment to registering trialed products. Merck & Co., Inc. has a publicly available policy for ensuring post-trial access to treatments for clinical trial participants. However, the policy is not completely aligned with the standards set in the Declaration of Helsinki. Merck & Co., Inc. does not state a commitment to registering newly approved products in all countries where clinical trials for these products have taken place.

*Defined as a recommended time frame through consultation with stakeholders during Index methodology development.