History

Even though any direct association between Merck KGaA in Darmstadt and the U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, ended long ago, the two are confused time and again. Merck in Darmstadt is the oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company in the world and continues to successfully operate in both sectors, to this day. Merck & Co. became an independent company after World War I.

The historical roots of Merck KGaA lie in Darmstadt, where Friedrich Jacob Merck acquired the Engel-Apotheke (“Angel Pharmacy”) in 1668. In 1827, Heinrich Emanuel Merck began the industrial-scale production of alkaloids, plant extracts and other chemicals. The successful export business in the United States led in 1887 to the establishment of a subsidiary in New York. Under Georg Merck, a grandson of Heinrich Emanuel Merck, Merck & Co. was formed in 1891.

Today, the two companies are no longer linked to one another. The only thing they still have in common is the name Merck. Within North America Merck & Co. hold the rights to the name while outside this region Merck & Co. operate as Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) or MSD Sharp & Dohme. Merck KGaA, in turn, holds the rights elsewhere in the world and operates in North America under the umbrella brand EMD, formed from the initials of Emanuel Merck, Darmstadt.

Similarly, the innovative pharmaceuticals business of Merck trades globally under the name Merck Serono, except in North America where the division operates as EMD Serono.