Merck Canada announces a $4 million grant to support patient-centered care

Merck

SHERBROOKE, QC, Sept. 27, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Merck Canada announced at the Sherbrooke International Life Sciences Summit that it is reinforcing its commitment to the Quebec life sciences research innovation sector by providing a $4 million grant to the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS) for academic research. The FRQS grant will go towards supporting patient-oriented research conducted by the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) initiative.

"The initiatives we support are a part of our approach to research and development (R&D) which is about building collaborative research relationships. In our view, private-public partnerships provide a fertile environment for innovation to grow and lead to new and efficient ways of caring for patients," said Dr. Thomas R. Cannell, President and Managing Director, Merck Canada Inc.

"The investment that Merck Canada announced today is excellent news for research in the health sector and serves as a testament to a partnership built between this private firm and public research institutions in Quebec. In addition, this investment is in line with an important imperative for the Quebec Government being early stage research," said Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Réjean Hébert.

Developing a strong infrastructure for research

"The Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé is grateful for this grant that will go towards supporting patient-oriented care," said Dr. Renaldo Battista, Scientific Director of the FRQS. "At the core of everything we do is the patient, our patient focused research is about ensuring that the right patient receives the right intervention at the right time."

This announcement marks the latest contribution by Merck towards its commitment to inject $100 million over five years in biopharmaceutical R&D in Quebec. Today's announcement brings Merck's total contributions to date to approximately $68 million.

Note: All amounts expressed in this press release are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

About Merck
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well.  Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer and animal products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information about our operations in Canada, visit www.merck.ca.

About FQRS
The FRQS (Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé) is a non-profit funding agency reporting to the Minister of the Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie (MESRST). Its mandate is to implement government strategy with respect to human health research as presented in the Québec Research and Innovation Strategy. The FRQS plays a leading role in planning and coordinating the development of health research in Québec. For more information about FRQS, please visit www.frqs.gouv.qc.ca.

The news release is available at www.cnw.ca.

Forward Looking Statement
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Merck'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; Merck'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 Merck's patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

Merck 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 Merck's 2012 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 (ww.sec.gov).

Image with caption: "Merck Canada Announces a $4 Million Grant To Support Patient-Centered Care (from left to right) Dr. Renaldo Battista, Scientific Director, FRQS; Dr. Thomas R. Cannell, President and Managing Director, Merck Canada Inc.; Dr. Réjean Hébert, Québec Minister of Health and Social Services. (CNW Group/Merck)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130927_C5218_PHOTO_EN_31471.jpg

SOURCE: Merck

Ani Armenian
Merck
514-428-3395

Stephanie Lyttle
NATIONAL Public Relations
514-501-8685