2021 Revenues ($USD) : $48,704,000,000
2021 R&D spend : $12,245,000,000
2021 Number of Employees : 68,000
Fiscal Year End : 12/31/2021
Leader : CEO Robert Davis

Founded in 1891, the American company had a strong year in 2021, with revenues increasing for the full year. The company completed its spinoff of Jersey City, New Jersey–based Organon, specializing in reproductive medicine, contraception, psychiatry, hormone replacement therapy and anesthesia. In 2021, the Kenilworth, N.J.-based pharma heavyweight also scored several international regulatory authorizations for the SARS-CoV-2 antiviral molnupiravir. Merck’s key revenue drivers in 2021 included the immunotherapy therapy Keytruda, the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil, and the company's animal health segment. The company is also facing increasing biosimilar competition for Keytruda. “Longer term, we are intensely focused on successfully navigating the headwind created by likely biosimilar competition to Keytruda at the end of the decade,” said Rob Davis, Merck & Co. CEO, in the company’s 2021 Q4 earnings announcement. —BB