by Louise Kuo Habakus
In Part One, I covered some lesser known safety issues with the combination measles, mumps & rubella vaccine. Now let’s talk about the company that makes it.
Who’s Merck & Co?
Merck & Co. is a U.S. corporation headquartered in New Jersey and the world’s seventh largest pharmaceutical firm. It was founded in 1891 as the U.S. subsidiary of a German company by the same name. The U.S. confiscated the subsidiary after World War I and established it as an independent company.
In 2014, Merck & Co. reported $42.4 billion in worldwide revenues and $10.3 billion in net income. It ranked #65 on the Fortune 500. Merck Vaccines is a $10.1 billion business. A little over half its sales comes from the following childhood vaccines:
$1,738,000,000 Gardasil (HPV)
$1,394,000,000 MMR/ProQuad/Varivax (measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox)
$ 765,000,000 Zostavax (shingles)
$ 746,000,000 Pneumovax 23 (pneumococcal)
$ 659,000,000 RotaTeq (rotavirus)
Read the full article here at Fearless Parent.