Merck Animal Health Launches New Tool: Convenience Program Evaluation to Promote Poultry Health

Evaluation Assesses Vaccine Needs Starting in the Hatchery

MADISON, NEW JERSEY, August 19, 2015 – Merck Animal Health (known as MSD Animal Health outside the USA and Canada) today announced the launch of the Convenience Program Evaluation. This innovative new poultry health field service, is a new addition to the company’s Convenience Program, an initiative designed to help poultry producers protect chickens against various diseases while achieving optimal vaccination standards, bird quality and performance goals. The Convenience Program Evaluation is designed to help producers troubleshoot disease outbreaks, optimize vaccination processes, and maintain the health of their poultry through the use of innovative and practical tools available through Merck Animal Health Representatives via mobile devices and toolkit. With the clear target of adding valued service to our customers and going beyond disease control, Merck Animal Health officially launched the Convenience Program Evaluation as a free service for poultry customers across the globe.

“Merck Animal Health is committed to working with customers beyond disease control, with product offerings to provide services and solutions that substantially improve vaccine efficacy and promote optimal poultry health,” said William Vaughn, Global Marketing, Poultry, Merck Animal Health. “We can now offer our customers a suite of services that can help them optimize their businesses and choose the right combination of products to ensure stronger health conditions for and performance of their flocks.”

Helping Producers Optimize Efficiency
Producers can receive the benefits of the Convenience Program Evaluation by working with their local Merck Animal Health Representative. Together, they will assist in troubleshooting disease outbreaks, increasing the skill and knowledge of hatchery personnel, and building a database to analyze hatchery and first week of age process trends to improve chick quality. In addition, the tool provides information about vaccines, including a comprehensive outline of vaccine preparation and administration. Through user-friendly design and support, the Convenience Program Evaluation can help producers identify ways to improve the vaccine administration process by examining trends and analyzing results.

Ultimately, as a part of the Merck Animal Health Convenience Program, the goal of the Convenience Program Evaluation is to ensure that producers are working vaccination into common practice beginning in the hatchery. Through a combination of in-ovo and day-old vaccination application, the Convenience Program process provides earlier and longer protection, without producing adverse reactions. The Convenience Program Evaluation allows producers to build a database that analyzes hatchery process trends, most efficiently vaccinates their flock against harmful diseases, and improves overall poultry health.

About Merck Animal Health
Today’s Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada, is the global animal health business unit of Merck. Through its commitment to the Science of Healthier Animals™, Merck Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services. Merck Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. Merck Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit www.merck-animal-health.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter at @MerckAH.

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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 2014 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).