History of Merck KGaA

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The history of Merck KGaA , the oldest pharmaceutical - chemical company in the world, begins in 1668 with the purchase of a Darmstadt pharmacy by Friedrich Jacob Merck . This pharmacy became the cornerstone for the two companies Merck KGaA and Merck & Co.

The Engelapotheke - the nucleus of two global companies

The Mercksche Engelapotheke in Darmstadt towards the end of the 18th century

Heinrich Emanuel Merck

Wilhelm, Georg and Carl Merck (from left to right)

The Schweinfurt pharmacist Friedrich Jakob Merck did not make any professional progress in his hometown. He and his brothers tried in vain to get a job as a provisional agent in a city pharmacy. In 1651 - three years after the end of the Thirty Years' War - he left Schweinfurt at the age of 20. Little is known about the following 17 years of his life. In 1668 he acquired the second city pharmacy in Darmstadt , later the Engel pharmacy , with house and yard. On August 26, 1668, Friedrich Jakob Merck was granted the pharmacy privilege. The certificate says:

"... according to the order provided with good fresh medicamentis useful for one or other cures, so that no deficiency appears."

- Extract from the pharmacy privilege of 1668

The Engel pharmacy passed from Friedrich Jakob Merck to his nephew Georg Friedrich Merck . In 1715 Johann Franz Merck , then Johann Justus Merck and then his son Johann Anton Merck became the owners of the Engel pharmacy. The latter was not only a pharmacist, but also a collector and researcher who was known beyond the boundaries of the small town residence. His son Heinrich Emanuel Merck , a grandson of the author and publisher Johann Heinrich Merck , took over the Engel pharmacy from his father in 1816. Heinrich Emanuel Merck was good friends with the chemist Justus Liebig and did intensive research with natural herbal substances in the laboratory of his pharmacy . He was able to isolate a number of alkaloids , such as morphine , in pure form. In 1827 he offered these active ingredients to other pharmacists, chemists and doctors for sale through his Pharmaceutical-Chemical Novelty Cabinet . He informed the “medical and pharmaceutical public” that he had decided “to produce this class of pharmaceutical bodies on a large scale”. With this production, which went beyond the needs of his own pharmacy, Heinrich Emanuel Merck laid the foundation stone for the pharmaceutical-chemical factory. The Engel pharmacy thus became the nucleus for two global companies.

The pharmacy in the center of Darmstadt is still owned by the Merck family today.

The industrial era up to the First World War

First Merck index from 1889

Production in the factory from 1886

The first surviving trademark of the company was the image of an angel, who gave the pharmacy its name. Heinrich Emanuel Merck founded a business association with his sons Carl , Georg and Wilhelm in 1850 . After his death in 1855, the sons took over the company, which at the time had around 50 employees. In 1860, the product portfolio comprised over 800 different articles, which were manufactured according to binding purity standards. This was considered to be groundbreaking at the time.

With Thyreoidinum siccatum (dried thyroid from slaughtered animals ), Merck developed the world's first thyroid preparation in 1894. To date, Merck is the leading company in this multi-drug therapy area outside of the United States.

Until 1884, Merck was probably the German pharmaceutical company with the highest sales. Innovative, newly developed active ingredients such as phenacetin and aspirin or antipyrin and pyramidon enabled the then still young competing companies Bayer and Hoechst Merck to outperform. The competition consistently focused on the development of new synthetic finished medicinal products (branded items), while Merck, with its wide range of natural substances, was more like a “large pharmacy”. The portfolio of competitors was smaller and the profit margins of the cheaper synthetics were significantly larger. After the success of the competition, the trend of the times was also recognized at Merck and the development in the direction of new synthetic active ingredients was promoted. The first successes came in the following years. In 1903, Merck launched the world's first barbiturate, the sleeping pill Veronal .

Due to the growth of the company, the company premises in downtown Darmstadt soon became too small and there were no expansion options on neighboring properties. Therefore plans were developed to relocate the entire factory. Relocation to another city, for example Gernsheim , Aschaffenburg or Hamburg, was discussed, as these places would have enabled a connection to a waterway . Ultimately, the decision was made to stay in Darmstadt. There they had over 1000 well-trained employees and, moreover, they did not want to give up the established company name E. Merck Darmstadt . The company acquired a suitable large plot of land in the north of Darmstadt and in 1901, after the building permits had been granted, construction of the new factory began. In 1903 and 1904 the individual production companies gradually moved. The old factory was blown up after the relocation work was completed. The following years were marked by strong growth. If the number of employees was 1200 after the move, it rose to 2100 in the following ten years. The annual turnover rose from 12 to 26 million marks .

In 1906 Merck formed an interest group (IG) together with Boehringer Mannheim (now Roche Diagnostics ), Knoll (now Abbott Laboratories ) and Gehe & Co. (now Celesio ). The Berlin company JD Riedel joined the interest group a year later. The IG was supposed to act as a counterweight to the tar paint factories, which had already merged in 1904 to form the Triple Alliance ( Bayer , BASF and Agfa ) or the Dreiverband ( Hoechst , Cassella and Kalle ). The business areas were divided up within the interest groups and price agreements - which were permitted at the time - were made. Merck, for example, gave up the production of codeine in favor of Knoll, but instead started producing atropine , scopolamine and sparteine for the other IG companies. By pooling capacities, the interest group was able to reduce the purchase prices for raw materials. However, there were always disputes about the determination of the production and profit quotas , as well as about the bookkeeping . After the First World War, the interest group was dissolved. In 1914, Merck together with Boehringer Mannheim and Knoll, the company MBK ( M erck, B Oehringer and K noll). Various new drugs were marketed under the brand names and Compretten and Amphiolen . The coal Compretten were first marketed under this name in 1924. The joint venture MBK existed until 1971.

The Merck chemist Anton Köllisch first synthesized MDMA in 1912 . The psychoactive effect of this substance, which became known and abused worldwide under the name of ecstasy from the 1980s , was only discovered decades later. Merck never marketed MDMA as a drug.

The US branch - the cornerstone for another global company

Georg (e) Merck around 1900

In 1887, the Darmstadt business association E. Merck sent a representative, the chemist Theodor Weicker, to the United States to open a sales office ("Agency for the Sale of Drugs and Chemical Products"). At this point, Merck already had a successful export business to the United States. However, there were increasing reports of counterfeit labels and the sale of inferior goods under the Merck brand ( product piracy ). Two years later, the Darmstadt company management decided to send a representative of the family and have him permanently on site. This was supposed to be the commercially trained Georg Merck (from 1902 George Merck ), who lived in London , a 22-year-old grandson of Heinrich Emanuel Merck and the youngest son of Wilhelm Merck . In August 1889 Georg Merck and Weicker agreed to set up a trading company in New York. In 1890 they both founded the company Merck & Co., based in New York City. The participation enabled a loan of US $ 200,000 from Darmstadt, whereby Georg Merck should continue to "conscientiously fulfill" his duties as a partner in the business association E. Merck . The newly founded company should establish itself as an externally independent company, as a new branch , but the connections to the Darmstadt parent company should nevertheless remain close. The corporate profits, which Georg was entitled to due to the shares in the new company, he had to transfer to the parent company without any deductions. Georg also had to “provide information from time to time about the course and status of affairs in New York society” and provide “copies of the inventories and balance sheets”. He was not allowed to change the articles of association of Merck & Co. "if the loan debt was avoided". In return, the Darmstadt-based company undertook to pay Georg Merck a fixed annual fee and to assume any possible losses.

The company's purpose was initially limited to the import and distribution of goods manufactured in Darmstadt. In 1897, sales exceeded $ 1 million for the first time and the company moved into its own six-story office building on University Place in New York . In the same year Georg Merck wrote to his Darmstadt cousin Louis Merck:

“Above all, we have to be clear that the focus of our business will be here in America for the foreseeable future, at least as far as sales of the articles are concerned. As for manufacturing, who knows? America is the country of the future [and] will, perhaps only when we are no longer there, supply the world market with many articles in our industry. "

- Georg Merck, 1897

After the move, Merck & Co. went into direct sales . For this purpose, a separate pharmacy was set up on the first floor of the office building. The well-equipped and very elegantly furnished pharmacy, however, provoked resistance from some of the best customers that Merck has supplied to date: other pharmacy operators. Fear of aggressive competition led to protests by two pharmaceutical companies directly in Darmstadt. Merck & Co. gave up the new “Merck Pharmacy” business model after two years and pursued a new strategy. Merck & Co. had to pay high protective tariffs on products imported from Germany . Theodor Weicker and Georg Merck therefore acquired a 150 acre (≈ 60  ha ) site in Rahway / New Jersey in 1899  , on which they themselves began to produce various chemicals and drugs in 1903. The money for the factory site, as well as the scientific and technical expertise, came from the Darmstadt parent company. A year later, the partner Weicker left the company and founded the Theodor Weicker Company . In 1905, Weicker became president of Squibb Corporation and became the largest shareholder in the company through a $ 900,000 share purchase that same year.

In 1908, Merck & Co. was renamed a stock corporation to raise new capital. George Merck held all but two of the 2,500 shares issued. The other two shares were held by Ernst Kauder and Henry Schenck, Georges brother-in-law. Kauder was a Darmstadt chemist who immigrated to the USA to set up production. The change in the company's legal form had the advantage that bonds could now be issued. A 20-year bond on gold bonds with a total value of $ 750,000 was issued. In 1912 Merck & Co. founded a subsidiary in Canada .

Everything changed with the First World War . Both the demand for products and the prices rose sharply. In 1915, Merck & Co. had sales of almost 7 million US dollars, with a profit of 1.433 million US dollars. The British naval blockade made it almost impossible for German merchant ships to cross the Atlantic. Production and research activities in Rahway will be increased significantly. In 1916, a commercial submarine (the Germany ) still managed to ship products that were also intended for Merck & Co. Then the contact for the goods transfer was broken.

In 1917 the United States entered World War I. The US government passed the Trading with the Enemy Act , which enabled it to take various measures in relation to the property of German private individuals and German companies operating in the US. The measures extended to the seizure . On April 3, 1918, George Merck turned to the responsible Alien Property Custodian (German: Trustee for foreign property) to explain Merck & Co.'s connections to the Darmstadt-based parent company. He stated that he owned 20% of the shares in Merck & Co. due to the fact that he owned 20% of the shares in E. Merck in Darmstadt. The remaining 80% of the shares, despite the existing financial connections to Darmstadt, are not attributable to the German company E. Merck. The authority should judge this itself according to the current legal situation.

The Alien Property Custodian then took up the investigation, which primarily examined the connections to the parent company. The investigators came to the conclusion that Merck & Co. was organized very “German”. Financing, organization and hierarchy are very conservative. These “German” traits led the auditors entrusted by the competent authority to the conclusion that “the development of such a trustworthy organization could not keep pace with the growth of the business.” Furthermore, it was established that all profits were transferred to Germany, which was in contradiction to the externally presented ownership structure. From this, the Alien Property Custodian concluded that Merck & Co. was obviously owned by the German parent company. He was of the opinion "that indirect ownership of this kind is not covered by the Trading with the Enemy Act , and I have therefore determined that all share capital is owned by the enemy and should be taken over accordingly."

E. Merck's 80 percent stake in Merck & Co. was publicly auctioned on May 9, 1919. George Merck, who had been a US citizen since 1902, retained his stake in the company. With this act, the relationship between the German parent company and its US subsidiary ended.

To acquire the 80 percent stake, George Merck founded McKenna Corporation together with Goldman Sachs , Lehman Brothers and other investors . This company was awarded the contract for $ 3.75 million. Merck & Co. had sales of more than 8 million US dollars each in 1917 and 1918. A trust agreement was signed in order to exclude any possible influence or even control by the German E. Merck . George Merck regained full control of the wholly publicly owned company in 1919.

As a result of the expropriation , the German E. Merck in North America also lost the rights to the name "Merck". The Darmstadt company is not allowed to use this name there to this day. Merck KGaA, the legal successor to E. Merck and E. Merck AG , therefore operates in this region under the name EMD (derived from Emanuel Merck, Darmstadt ). Conversely, the US American Merck & Co., Inc. is not allowed to operate under the name “Merck” in the rest of the world. It operates there as MSD Sharp & Dohme (derived from Merck Sharp & Dohme ). In 1922 the two companies signed a first agreement to use the name “Merck”. In 1955 a clear agreement on naming rights was concluded.

Merck during World War I and the Weimar Republic

The First World War radically interrupted Merck's long-term growth. Subsidiaries abroad were lost, as were important export markets. A lack of work arose in the company, which was initially only partially compensated for by the drafting of almost half of the workforce. The number of employees fell from 2101 to 1271 in the first year of the war. In the course of the war, the lack of export business was increasingly offset by strong domestic demand . The number of employees also rose again and at the end of the war exceeded the pre-war figure with 2,243 employees. A large part of the turnover was achieved with army deliveries. These included, for example, morphine , codeine , anesthetic ether , disinfectants and vaccines against cholera and typhus . Since horses still played an important role in World War I, large quantities of veterinary drugs were also produced. For example, aloe pills and pyoctanin against colic . Horse gas masks were also produced: 45,500 in the last year of the war. As part of the Hindenburg program , 60 employees began manufacturing phosphorus bullets in September 1917 . Daily production was initially 10,000 pieces. In April 1918, 228 workers were producing 60,000 units a day.

As an alternative to morphine and codeine, Merck launched Eukodal ( INN : Oxycodon ) as an analgesic and cough suppressant in 1917.

In 1920 E. Merck formed a board of directors. For the first time in the company's history, employees who were not members of the Merck family joined the company's management. The chairmanship of the board of directors was only allowed to be held by a company owner, i.e. a family member.

In 1927, Merck and Bayer launched the vitamin D preparation Vigantol .

Merck in the Third Reich

The "Ostarbeiter" mark

Medicines packaging 1936

The courtyard of the main laboratory in 1936

A Merck research laboratory in 1936

With Betabion (active ingredient: thiamine ), Merck was the first company in the world to bring vitamin B1 onto the market in 1936.

In 1939 Merck had 4,000 employees. As a result of the Second World War , a large part of the male workforce was drafted into the Wehrmacht or otherwise conscripted . In order to keep production going, foreign workers ( civilian workers ) were recruited from 1941 . These were mainly Flemings (848), but also Walloons (18), French (154), Dutch (112) and Italians (254). The civil workers lived with their families in apartments or in civil labor camps. They could move about freely. From 1942, Merck was assigned slave labor : 257 Russians and 8 Poles, the majority of whom were women. In total, Merck stated in the foreigner search operation on August 25, 1947 that between September 1, 1939 and the end of the war, it had employed 1659 foreigners.

An essential criterion for the allocation of forced labor was ensuring the production of war-essential products. At Merck, the following were classified as essential warfare products:

• Eukodal (dihydroxycodeine hydrochloride)
• Scophedal (a combination of scopolamine , dihydroxycodeine, and ephedrine that was used for analgesia, sedation, and preparation for anesthesia)
• Glucose and charcoal tablets
• Vitamin preparations, in particular ascorbic acid
• various chemicals, such as hydrogen peroxide

The Reich Ministry of Food considered pesticides (biocides) such as calcium arsenate Esturmit against potato beetles and the delousing agent Cuprex as important to the war effort . In 1942, for example, 543 tons of calcium arsenate were produced; up to July of the year mainly by French prisoners of war, then by Eastern workers , as the French were obliged to work in other industries or in agriculture.

As part of the general discussion of forced labor in the “Third Reich” and “Forced Labor Compensation” at the end of the 1990s, Merck also worked on its own history from this period. The attempt was made to reconstruct the objective living and working conditions of the forced laborers in the company in order to get an impression of the potential risk. The research included, among other things, annual reports from individual production companies, personnel and social area files, payrolls, management reports and photos. Talks were also held with a former Eastern worker and other contemporary witnesses . One result of the research is "that attempts were made to treat these women are not ideological conformity as subhuman, but tried to make her life as bearable as possible - even under the most difficult circumstances, basic moral values could comply." The main motivation was to " Of course also that they tried to keep the workforce of the soon to be specialized employees. "

The Eastern Workers were deployed in various areas of the company, for example in quality control, shipping, distillation work or the manufacture of cardboard boxes. They received a wage of around 75% of the regular wage for their work. After deducting the cost of accommodation and food, around 40  Reichsmarks were paid out per month. The accommodations consisted of two barracks located on the factory premises . They were surrounded by a wire fence and were greeted by people of the factory security guards. Officially, the factory premises could only be left in groups and under supervision. The "Ostarbeiter" badge was to be worn. However, these provisions were not always applied restrictively. The medical care of the Eastern workers is described as inadequate.

As a result of coming to terms with its own history, Merck has not only joined the compensation fund of the German economy , but has also paid the identified Eastern workers additional personal compensation as an effort to make amends and initiated the “Belarus pharmacy project”. In this project all persons who are registered by the “Belarusian Republican Foundation Understanding and Reconciliation” as inmates of a concentration camp , ghetto , prison or as a slave laborer can receive medicines free of charge. The first pharmacy opened in Minsk in 1998 .

During the Nazi era , the company was headed by Karl Emanuel Merck , a great-grandson of Heinrich Emanuel Merck. He was a member of the Reich Health Council, was a military economic leader and from 1934 a member of the Advisory Board for Public Health of the Reich leadership of the NSDAP . After the war he was chairman of the board of directors of E. Merck AG until 1959 and chairman of the supervisory board from 1961 to 1964.

From 1928 onwards, Merck supported the entrepreneur and later head of the Reich Chamber of Commerce Albert Pietzsch . Merck held a 28% stake in the Elektrochemische Werke München (EWM) managed by Pietzsch . EWM produced concentrated hydrogen peroxide , which was used, among other things, as fuel for rocket engines (for the A4 fuel pump), submarine turbines and torpedo units. Karl Merck was Chairman of the EWM Supervisory Board in 1943. Merck was the main shareholder in the Transehe chemical plant , which produced chemicals such as B and C substances essential to the war effort . B and C substances essentially consisted of hydrazine and were a component ( reductant ) of a rocket fuel that was used in the Messerschmitt Me 163 , for example .

In 1942 Louis and Wilhelm Merck left the group of open partners. This happened at the instigation of Bernhard Pfotenhauer (1884-1945). Pfotenhauer was an "ardent National Socialist" and in 1923 or 1924 switched from the Darmstädter und Nationalbank to Merck. He played a leading role on the company's board of directors even before 1933. He had excellent relationships with Gauleiter Jakob Sprenger . Until the scandal in 1942, Louis Merck was the manager of Pfotenhauer as head of the commercial department. One reason for the two family members leaving the management was the fear that if Pfotenhauer remained on the management board, with Sprenger's help, he would be appointed general commissioner of Merck and thus gain complete control over the family company. The owners would then have been completely forced out of management. Pfotenhauer was later appointed military economist.

At noon on December 12, 1944, 60 employees were killed in an air raid on Merck and almost 70 percent of the buildings were destroyed. The production capacity was destroyed by 70 to 80 percent. At that time, around 3,000 people - including forced laborers - were employed in Darmstadt.

American troops occupied the plant on March 25, 1945. Before that, all images of Hitler were burned and the employees were sent home.

Between reconstruction and the economic miracle

For Merck, the Second World War ended on March 25, 1945. The occupying powers initially prohibited people from leaving their homes. Many commuters were cut off from their jobs as a result. On March 29, 1945, the first 250 employees began cleaning up. Between 800 and 900 employees returned to work in mid-April. This essentially consisted of clean-up and repair work. Most of the staff came to work on foot or by bike. Public transport was no longer available due to interrupted tram and train connections. On April 30, 1945, the military government approved Merck to manufacture pharmaceutical substances. From June 26, 1945, pesticides, preservatives for food and chemicals for laboratory use could again be produced. During this time, the company was headed by a US occupation officer who came from the pharmaceutical industry and who pushed for reconstruction. The entire company assets were confiscated in September 1945 ( asset freeze ) and placed under the military administration. An external trustee and plant manager was appointed to replace the owner family and the old management . In July 1945, Merck had 2,290 employees in 1948 and December of the same year. In January 1946, the trustee and plant manager was deposed and imprisoned by the Americans for "irregularities". His successor remained in office until the asset freeze was lifted in 1948.

The Engel pharmacy, which was completely destroyed in the war, was rebuilt in the same location and reopened in February 1952. The Darmstadt parent plant is one of the few large chemical companies that is not located on any river. This was one of the main reasons why the construction of a sewage treatment plant began as early as 1954 . The expansion of the last stage of the facility was completed in 1966. As one of the first sewage treatment plants in Germany, it treated the wastewater not only mechanically, but also biologically . At the time of its commissioning, the sewage treatment plant was the most modern plant in the world for the treatment of industrial wastewater. The sewage sludge was incinerated in an environmentally friendly manner. The Darmbach serves as the receiving water of the sewage treatment plant .

Driven by the economic miracle , the number of employees rose to 6352 in 1960. A number of new active ingredients from pharmaceutical research came onto the market. For example, in 1954 Thiogenal ( INN : thiobarbital ), 1960, the psychotropic Reactivan (INN: Fencamfamin ), 1961, the cold remedy Nasivin (INN: oxymetazoline ), 1963, the hormone preparations Gestafortin (INN: chlormadinon ) Menova and Amenyl , as well as the neurotrophic factor Encephabol (INN : Pyrithioxin ) and a year later the birth control pill Aconcen .

In 1957, chemical research began working on the first iridescent , inorganic pearlescent pigments . In the 1960s, the self-tanning agent dihydroxyacetone and various light protection substances (Eusolex) were developed. Liquid crystal research - one of the cornerstones of the company's economic success in the 21st century - began in 1968.

Foundation of the Gernsheim plant

Aerial photo of the plant in Gernsheim am Rhein (2004)

The reconstruction of the Darmstadt plant could not keep up with the demand for products after the Second World War. Merck rented buildings and equipment for the production of alkaloids on the site of a former sugar factory in Gernsheim am Rhein, 25 km away . Three days before monetary union in June 1948, Merck was granted approval to produce crop protection products on the site. In 1954, Merck then acquired the site and the buildings on it.

In the 1950s, new production facilities were built in Gernsheim, for example for pearlescent pigments and thioglycolic acid . Today the plant with around 900 employees and an area of ​​92 hectares is the second largest production facility of the Merck Group.

With Hans Harms , for the first time in the history of Merck, a non-family member became head of the company (Chairman of the Board of Management of E. Merck AG).

Aconces

The active ingredient chlormadinone acetate , developed by Merck chemists in 1960 and for which a patent has been pending , was marketed by Merck as a birth control pill under the brand name Aconcen . Until the beginning of the 1970s, Merck had a market share of 6 to 8.2% with aconcenes in Germany . After Schering (over 50% market share with Anovlar and Eugynon ) and Parke, Davis & Co. (now Pfizer ; 13.3% market share with Etalontin ) in Germany in 1967, Merck was number three on the market for hormonal contraceptives (birth control pills). In 1970, in long-term studies with beagles , which were given a dose 10 to 25 times higher than the usual dose in humans, it was found that benign nodules formed in the breast tissue of some of the animals . Rats , mice and monkeys that received 10 to 50 times the dose (compared to the human dose) over 29 months did not show any tissue changes. Despite the contradicting statements of the studies, Merck withdrew Aconcen from the market in 1970. In retrospect, the fears at the time have proven to be untenable. With the discontinuation of Aconcen , Merck ended all activities in the field of sex hormones.

Start of liquid crystal research at Merck

Otto Lehmann, here in his laboratory at the TH Karlsruhe in 1907, gave the first impulse for liquid crystals from Merck in 1904.

After Merck in 1904 - at the request of Otto Lehmann - the first liquid crystals ( engl. Liquid crystals , LC) produced and more offered as a curiosity, for which there was no significant technical applications for decades, the company began in 1968 with the research in the field the liquid crystals. In the same year, the company RCA developed the first prototype of an LCD in the United States . For a few decades, liquid crystals remained a very small niche market for wristwatches and pocket calculators. When the market began to boom in the 1990s - thanks to the development of colored liquid crystals and portable PCs - many of the previous competitors (including Hoechst AG ) had already left the market. With the advent of LCD monitors for desktop PCs, and in particular the flat panel displays to TFT base as a television , the business developed with the liquid crystals become one of the biggest earner of the company in the 21st century. The world market share was at times over 70% and in 2009 it was over 60%. The Liquid Crystals division achieved sales of 733 million euros in 2009, with an operating result of 227 million euros.

From 1970 to 2000

Hans Joachim Langmann was CEO of Merck for 30 years.

In 1970 Hans Joachim Langmann became chairman of the management board. At that time the company had a turnover of 700 million DM (the equivalent of 358 million €). When Langmann stepped down and retired in 2000, sales were € 6.74 billion.

In 1972 Merck acquired 50% of the shares in the Italian Bracco Group from the Bracco family . The company, which operates in the field of diagnostics ( contrast media ), was Merck's sales channel for all pharmaceutical, chemical and laboratory products until 2000. In 2000 the relationship with Bracco was ended by the sale of the stake in the contrast medium business for almost 900 million euros. In the same year, Merck gave up its traditional vitamin business.

In 1980 the Merck Group achieved annual sales of over DM 1 billion for the first time. The anthelmintic (worming agent) praziquantel , trade name Biltricide , developed together with Bayer, was the first drug to receive the Galenus von Pergamon Prize in 1985 .

In the 1980s, Otto Esser (personally liable partner of Merck), as employer president (1977 to 1986) and Hans Joachim Langmann (chairman of the management board), as chairman of the Federal Association of German Industry (1985 to 1986), were two members of the management board of Merck in the top positions of the two most important business associations in Germany.

In 1991, Merck took over the French Société Lyonnaise Industrielle Pharmaceutique (Lipha). At that time, the Lyon-based company had 2,700 employees who achieved sales of 723 million DM. Glucophage (active ingredient: metformin ), a development by Lipha, subsequently developed into a blockbuster for Merck, with sales of over one billion euros .

The company decided to go public in 1995 to finance further acquisitions . Merck KGaA issued 26% of its shares to limited partners. The family kept the rest as a general partner of E. Merck OHG. The first listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange took place on October 20, 1995.

In 1996 Merck took over the entire nematic liquid crystals business from Hoffmann-La Roche and was subsequently the only remaining European manufacturer of liquid crystals.

The drug Acamprosat (brand name Campral ) manufactured and marketed by Merck received the Galenus von Pergamon Prize in 1999 as the first substance approved in Germany to combat craving in alcohol addiction .

Merck in the 21st century

Merck's liquid crystal researchers Matthias Bremer, Melanie Klasen-Memmer and Kazuaki Tarumi at the presentation of the German Future Prize 2003 by Federal President Johannes Rau.

For Merck, the beginning of the 21st century was marked by a series of takeovers and sales of parts of the company that had never happened before in the company's history. The company was strategically realigned. The restructuring of the company is obviously not yet complete.

In 2003, Merck researchers Matthias Bremer, Melanie Klasen-Memmer and Kazuaki Tarumi received the German Future Prize, endowed with 250,000 euros, from Federal President Johannes Rau for the project "Lighter, brighter, faster: liquid crystals for television screens".

As a result of a capital increase carried out in 2007, which mainly served to finance the takeover of Serono, the Merck family's stake in Merck KGaA fell to 70%.

Sales of parts of the company

In spring 2004, Merck sold its shares in the Biomet Merck joint venture to its partner Biomet. The orthopedic company was founded in 1998 with Biomet Inc. and produced, among other things, bone substitute materials and implants .

In 2004 the entire laboratory distribution division was sold to the private equity company Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) for 1.3 billion US dollars , together with the subsidiary VWR International . After that, only the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors remained. One of the reasons for the sale was the company's comparatively low return on sales (3.3% in 2003), which was achieved with laboratory distribution. In the same year, the Electronic Chemicals division, which belongs to the Chemicals division, was sold to BASF . In 2003 the division achieved sales of 181 million euros. As a result of these measures, Merck was debt free in 2006.

In May 2007, the Generics division, which is part of the Pharmaceuticals division, was sold to the US company Mylan Laboratories for 4.9 billion euros . With various subsidiaries in several countries, Merck KGaA was one of the top-selling generics manufacturers in the world. The purchase of Serono was partly financed with the sales proceeds.

Takeover attempt by Schering AG

In March 2006, Merck tried to buy the DAX- listed Berlin pharmaceutical company Schering AG through a hostile takeover . On March 13, Merck submitted a takeover offer to Schering shareholders for EUR 77 per share. This corresponded to a total value of 14.6 billion euros for the entire company. Schering's management rejected Merck's offer as “not attractive” and Bayer AG , as the Weißer Ritter, made a higher offer than Merck at EUR 86 per share. The Management Board of Schering AG recommended that its shareholders accept this offer. Merck did not submit a new higher offer to the shareholders, but began to buy shares in Schering AG on a large scale on the stock exchange and thus acquired 21.8% of the company's shares. Shortly before the end of the first bidding period for the takeover, Merck and Bayer reached an agreement. Bayer took over the block of shares held by Merck for 89 euros per share and was thus able to save the takeover. With this sale, Merck achieved a profit of around 400 million euros within a few days.

Acquisition of Serono

In September 2006, Merck offered the shareholders of the Geneva-based biotechnology company Serono SA CHF 1,100 per share. The friendly takeover offer was coordinated with the Serono majority shareholder, the Bertarelli family . The family held 64.5% of the shares and 75.5% of the voting rights in Serono. The total volume of the takeover was CHF 16.6 billion, which corresponds to an amount of EUR 10.6 billion. Merck has been the majority shareholder in Serono since January 2007. With this acquisition, Merck became the third largest biotechnology company in the world. Serono was merged with its own pharmaceutical division, Ethicals, to form Merck Serono , which in turn is part of the Pharmaceuticals division.

Acquisition of Millipore

Merck KGaA announced another friendly takeover on February 28, 2010 when it was sold to the shareholders of the US company Millipore Corp. by mutual agreement with its management submitted an offer for the equivalent of 5.3 billion euros. Merck wanted to acquire all of Millipore's outstanding shares. The majority of Millipore's shareholders approved the takeover at an extraordinary general meeting in early June 2010. After the merger of the Merck Laboratory Business and Life Science Solutions business units , the new chemicals division Merck Millipore was created .

Efficiency enhancement program for all business areas and regions

At the end of February 2012, the management of Merck presented the first plans for an efficiency enhancement program to the Supervisory Board and relevant employee representatives. The measures to increase efficiency are part of the comprehensive transformation program, which consists of two phases: In the first two years, Merck plans to set up a new management organization, implement measures to increase efficiency and develop a long-term growth strategy. The second phase will focus on developing future growth opportunities.

As part of this efficiency enhancement program, Merck announced in April 2012 that it would close the headquarters of the Merck Serono pharmaceutical division in Geneva , which would result in the loss of over 1,250 jobs there. The union Unia called the move "clear chopping" and said it was "shocking that the company is increasing dividends by 20% almost at the same time". The Geneva government councilor Pierre-François Unger spoke of an "earthquake" for the Geneva and French-speaking Swiss economy.

Takeover of Biochrom AG

In August 2012, Berlin-based Biochrom AG was taken over by Merck. Biochrom is active in the production and marketing of cell culture media and buffer solutions.

Acquisition of AZ Electronic Materials

In May 2014, Merck took over the British specialty chemicals company AZ Electronic Materials (annual sales around 530 million euros in 2013). The former Hoechst subsidiary AZ Electronic Materials produces chemicals for the electronics industry. Merck submitted an offer to AZ shareholders for EUR 1.9 billion.

Acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich

On September 22, 2014, Merck KGaA announced a mutual agreement to acquire Sigma-Aldrich for $ 17 billion (EUR 13.1 billion) through a share takeover. The approval of the shareholders of Sigma-Aldrich took place on December 5, 2014, the approval by the American supervisory authorities was announced on December 23, 2014, so that the takeover is expected in mid-2015. On June 15, 2015, it was announced that the EU Commission approved the $ 17 billion takeover. In order to address competition concerns, Sigma had to sell some of its plants in Germany elsewhere and Merck has also offered (undisclosed) concessions. The acquisition is the largest in Merck's history.

Acquisition of Versum Materials

In September 2019, the American company Versum Materials was taken over for 5.8 billion euros. The takeover is intended to strengthen the semiconductor business.

Merck under fire

HCH affair

From 1954 to 1972 Merck produced the insecticide lindane (γ-hexachlorocyclohexane, γ-HCH) at the Gernsheim plant and marketed it under the brand name Jacutin . A large part of the production residues - mainly the β-HCH, which is ineffective as an insecticide - was backfilled during this time with official approval to build a parking lot on the banks of the Rhine. The HCH residues were then classified as harmless. Around 25,000  t of HCH were "disposed of" on an area originally around 5,200 m² under the parking lot. When high levels of HCH were found in the milk of cows on nearby farms in the early 1970s, the so-called 'HCH affair' developed. The HCH limit value for milk was sometimes exceeded 32 times.

The area was then largely sealed and Merck had to pump out large amounts of groundwater in the area of ​​the parking lot. This prevented further spread of the pollutants and reduced the pollution to a “normal background pollution of German arable sites”.

In October 2008, the dismantling and proper disposal of production residues began. By February 2010 around 4,000 t had been removed from the parking lot. The dismantling takes place only in the winter half-year, from October to March. The renovation work is estimated to take a total of six years and cost around 27 million euros. The degraded HCH is disposed of in an external incinerator.

On the grounds of the company's 1.2 km² Darmstadt main plant, pollutants from earlier production facilities can also be found in the ground (in some cases from the bombing raids during World War II) that ended up in the groundwater. In addition to HCH, this also includes benzene and various chlorinated hydrocarbons . The groundwater below the site is pumped out and cleaned with the help of 20 wells.

Cartel penalty for price fixing in the vitamin business

On November 21, 2001, the European Union imposed a cartel fine on Merck and other vitamin producers such as Hoffmann-La Roche , BASF , Aventis , Solvay , Daiichi Sankyō , Eisai and Takeda for a total of 855.22 million euros for unauthorized price fixing . Of this, Merck accounted for 9.24 million euros.

Patent on mature egg

Merck came under fire in 2010 when it became known that Applied Research Systems had applied for a patent for the use of interleukin-17 for oocyte maturation in September 2005 , which was granted on July 22, 2009. Claims 1 and 8 concern a method for in vitro fertilization comprising the production of a mature oocyte . As a result - so the criticism - that if a manufacturing patent is granted, the products manufactured with the aid of the process are also protected, Merck receives a patent on the egg cell.

Applied Research Systems is based in the Antilles and is a subsidiary of Serono AG, which Merck took over in 2006, after the patent was filed.

Non-publication of personal executive board remuneration

Merck has repeatedly come under fire from investors because the company refused to publish the personal emoluments of its board members. At the 2010 Annual General Meeting , several large fund companies therefore refused to discharge the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Rolf Krebs and the Chairman of the Management Board Karl-Ludwig Kley; both were relieved with only 56% of the capital present. Merck gave in in September 2010. The personal remuneration of the executive board should be published in 2010.

The company management since 1668

From 1668 to 1855 it is the pharmacist of the Engel pharmacy . In the missing periods, the pharmacy was managed by a provisional. The oldest open partner is listed in the period from 1855 to 1953 . From 1945 to 1948 the company was under fiduciary management . From 1953 to 1970 the respective chairman of the board of management of E. Merck AG , from 1970 to 1994 the chairman of the executive board of E. Merck OHG and from 1994 the chairman of the executive board of Merck KGaA .

Surname	Management of the Merck company	image
Stefan Oschmann (* 1957)	2016–
Karl-Ludwig Kley (* 1951)	2007-2016
Michael Römer (* 1946)	2005-2007
Bernhard Scheuble (* 1953)	2000-2005
Hans Joachim Langmann (* 1924)	1970-2000
Hans Harms (1906–1975)	1959-1970
Karl Merck (1886–1968) 1932–1952 oldest open partner (fiduciary administration 1945–1948) 1953–1959 Chairman of the Board of Management of E. Merck AG	1932-1959
Willy Merck (1860-1932)	1923-1932
Emanuel August Merck (1855-1923)	1913-1923
Louis Merck (1854-1913)	1899-1913
Wilhelm Merck (1833-1899)	1885-1899
Carl Merck (1823-1885)	1855-1885
Heinrich Emanuel Merck (1794–1855)	1816-1855
Johann Anton Merck (1756–1805)	1782-1805
Johann Justus Merck (1727–1758)	1754-1758
Johann Frantz Merck (1687–1741)	1715-1741
Georg Friedrich Merck (1647–1715)	1678-1715
Friedrich Jacob Merck (1621–1678)	1668-1678

The Merck family

→ Main article : Merck (family)

literature

• Reconstruction services of our industry - E. Merck AG. In: Fette, Seifen, Anstrichmittel 59, 1957, pp. 1107-1111. doi : 10.1002 / lipi.19570591220
• M. Bremshey-Wilhelm u. a .: Of ideas and coincidences - 1968–2008: 40 years of liquid crystal research at Merck. Trademark Publishing Verlag, ISBN 3-981-22941-X , 108 pp.
• F. Berthold: Family company in the field of tension between growth and financing. Books on Demand, 2010, ISBN 3-899-36895-9 , pp. 253f. limited preview in Google Book search
• The chemical factory. E. Merck - Darmstadt. Publication of the chemical factory E. Merck on the occasion of the 125th anniversary. Darmstadt, 1952

Web links

• The story of Merck

Individual evidence

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31. ^ Information sheet of the Belarusian Republican Foundation "Understanding and Reconciliation" about social cooperation projects for surviving victims of National Socialist persecution and oppression in today's Republic of Belarus. Minsk 2000.
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35. ^ Electrochemical works in Munich.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 6, 2010.  
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37. ↑ BV Kit, DS Evered: Rocket propellant handbook. Macmillan Verlag, 1960, p. 113.
38. ^ Based on information from Corporate History Archive, Merck KGaA, from October 2010.
39. ↑ Chemiker-Zeitung. , Volume 68, 1944, p. 149.
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41. ↑ K. Brückner et al.: Presentation and properties of monohalogenated 3-keto-4,6-diene steroids. In: Chem Ber 94, 1961, pp. 1225-1240. doi : 10.1002 / cber.19610940510
42. ↑ Patent DE 1,075,114th
43. ↑ Pirates at the door . In: Der Spiegel . No. 14 , 1968 ( online ).
44. ↑ ^{a b} wise resolution . In: Der Spiegel . No. 45 , 1970 ( online ).
45. ↑ On the red list . In: Der Spiegel . No. 10 , 1967 ( online ).
46. ↑ ^{a b} merck.de: Aconcen - A preparation for "medically indicated contraception " in the criticism. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
47. ↑ P. Nischan et al .: Comparison of recalled and validated oral contraceptive histories. In: Am J Epidemiol 138, 1993, pp. 697-703. PMID 8237985 .
48. ^ Peter Brors: Hans Joachim Langmann: Die Sagengestalt. In: manager-magazin.de. July 24, 2007, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
49. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Merck KGaA (publisher): Annual Report 2009. ( Memento of the original dated November 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Published on February 23, 2010, p. 3. 
50. ↑ ^{a b} A Chronicle of Progress. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
51. ↑ Merck shares & bonds. ( Memento of the original from July 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 5, 2010.  
52. ↑ P. Kirsch: 100 Years of Liquid Crystals at Merck. In: 20th International Liquid Crystal Conference (ILCC-20), Ljubljana, Slovenia, July 4-9, 2004.
53. ↑ Interview: Merck scientists Matthias Bremer, Melanie Klasen-Memmer, and Kazuaki Tarumi on Liquid Crystals for TV Screens. In: Advanced Materials 16, 2004, pp. 1882-1885.
54. ↑ biomet.de: The history of our company. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
55. ↑ n-tv.de: Laboratory division is sold - Merck grows strongly. 16 February 2004.
56. ↑ Acquisition of shares: Merck snatches Bayer Schering shares away - manager magazin. In: manager-magazin.de. June 9, 2006, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
57. ↑ Schering rejects takeover offer from Merck. In: FAZ-Net of March 13, 2006 (subscription required)
58. ↑ Takeover: Schering advises accepting Bayer's offer. In: manager-magazin.de. April 19, 2006, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
59. ↑ "Merck really ripped off Bayer". In: handelsblatt.com . June 14, 2006, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
60. ↑ Serono takeover: Merck's billion dollar deal - manager magazin. In: manager-magazin.de. September 21, 2006, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
61. ↑ G. Ehrlich: Serono Pharma Switzerland: Rebif® now approved for all types of relapsing multiple sclerosis. ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Press portal from May 15, 2003. 
62. ↑ Merck owns 98 percent of Serono. In: handelsblatt.com . February 7, 2007, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
63. ↑ Merck Serono. ( Memento of the original from December 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 17, 2012. 
64. ↑ Merck and Millipore Announce Transaction. (PDF; 41 kB) Merck KGaA press release dated February 28, 2010.
65. ↑ Merck lifts billion dollar deal. In: n-tv.de from March 1, 2010.
66. ↑ Wirtschaftsblatt.at: Millipore shareholders approve takeover by Merck. In : wirtschaftsblatt.at. June 4, 2010, archived from the original on February 25, 2015 ; Retrieved February 25, 2015 . 
67. ↑ Merck Millipore. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
68. ↑ Merck announces efficiency enhancement program for all business areas and regions. ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Press release from February 24, 2012  
69. ↑ «Bitter pill for the pharmaceutical industry». In: bernerzeitung.ch. November 15, 2011, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
70. ↑ Laura Frommberg: Merck closes headquarters in Geneva: “Earthquake for Western Switzerland”. In: handelszeitung.ch. April 24, 2012, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
71. ↑ dpa: Merck strengthens laboratory business with Berlin-based Biochrom AG. (No longer available online.) In: echo-online.de. August 22, 2012, archived from the original on February 25, 2015 ; Retrieved February 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
72. ↑ Darmstadt-based Merck is hungry for new acquisitions after taking over AZ Electronic. In: FAZ.net . Archived from the original on May 28, 2014 ; Retrieved February 25, 2015 . 
73. ↑ Merck Squeese-Out from AZ Electronic Materials. In: mynewsdesk.com. July 4, 2014, archived from the original on September 23, 2014 ; Retrieved February 25, 2015 . 
74. ^ Takeover of Sigma-Aldrich - Merck Group. (No longer available online.) In: merck.de. November 10, 2014, archived from the original on February 7, 2015 ; Retrieved February 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
75. ↑ Press release from September 22, 2014
76. ↑ Press release of December 23, 2014
77. ↑ http://orf.at/#/stories/2284302/ EU gives the green light for Merck's record takeover, ORF.at June 15, 2015
78. ↑ hessenschau de, Frankfurt Germany: Merck in Darmstadt completes takeover. October 7, 2019, accessed on October 8, 2019 (German). 
79. ↑ finanztreff.de: Merck completes takeover of Versum - sales increase. Retrieved October 8, 2019 . 
80. ↑ Merck in Gernsheim.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated September 2007.  
81. ↑ Poison in the grass . In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 1980 ( online ).
82. ↑ Yesterday's Wind . In: Der Spiegel . No. 5 , 1979 ( online ).
83. ↑ Hessischer Landtag : Small inquiry from Abg. Ursula Hammann (BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN) of September 17, 2007 regarding environmental pollution in the Hessian Ried and answer from the Minister for the Environment, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection. (PDF; 145 kB) November 6, 2007.
84. ↑ D. Zimmermann: Investigations on the remediation of HCH-contaminated arable soils. (PDF; 3.7 MB) Dissertation, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 2008.
85. ↑ bg: Short-time work ended, HCH reduction is progressing. (No longer available online.) In: echo-online.de. Formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 25, 2015 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
86. ↑ merck.de: All communications on the reconstruction of the Rheinparkplatz. ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 3, 2010. 
87. ↑ merck.de: Emissions - Protection of the soil. ( Memento of the original from October 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 3, 2010. 
88. ↑ ono: Merck rehabilitates the soil and groundwater. (No longer available online.) In: echo-online.de. February 5, 2010, formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 25, 2015 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
89. ^ Vitamin Cartel: The Chronology - SWI. In: swissinfo.ch. September 4, 2002, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
90. ↑ EU cracks vitamin cartel. In: FAZ.net . November 21, 2001, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
91. ↑ European patent EP 1 794 287 B1 (= WO 2006/039592)
92. ↑ ^{a b} Jutta Hoffritz: Pharmaceutical Companies : Licenses for Babies? In: zeit.de . April 9, 2010, accessed February 25, 2015 . 
93. ↑ Dietmar Palan: Executive Board remuneration: Dax Group Merck breaks silence about executive salaries. In: manager-magazin.de. September 22, 2010, accessed February 25, 2015 .