MSD Animal Health Continues Its Partnership with WeForest to Promote a Healthy Planet

MADISON, NJ, April 22, 2018 – MSD Animal Health (known as Merck Animal Health in the United States and Canada) today announced, as part of its commitment to a healthier planet on World Earth Day, its continued partnership with WeForest, an international nonprofit association engaged in large-scale sustainable reforestation and reduction in plastic pollution. Through the partnership, MSD Animal Health will plant 20,000 trees this year in areas where they are most needed, including Brazil, India and Zambia.
  
“We are proud to participate in WeForest’s mission to restore the planet’s natural resources by planting trees,” said Taylor Barbosa, DVM, Ph.D., ACPV, Executive Director, Global Poultry Marketing, MSD Animal Health. “Through this partnership and the use of novel technologies such as our environmentally friendly, SPHEREON® technology, MSD Animal Health is committed to environmental responsibility, in particular, working towards the offset of carbon emissions. With the help of poultry veterinarians and producers who use our products, we will continue to partner with WeForest in the years to come, planting even more trees.”
  
SPHEREON® is a novel vaccine formulation technology for the storage and preparation of live poultry vaccines. SPHEREON® technology freeze-dries live vaccines to small, highly soluble particles (spheres) that dissolve quickly and completely in water, with no residue. SPHEREON® allows for improved preparation and administration of the vaccine, and is packaged in light-weight, 100 percent recyclable aluminum cups.

About MSD Animal Health
For more than a century, MSD, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. MSD Animal Health, known as Merck Animal Health in the United States and Canada, is the global animal health business unit of MSD.Through its commitment to the Science of Healthier Animals™, MSD Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services. MSD 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. MSD Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit www.msd-animal-health.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA
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 2017 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).