Merck

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the Board of Directors has increased the company’s quarterly dividend to $0.46 per outstanding share of the company’s common stock, up $0.01 from $0.45 per outstanding share paid last quarter. Payment will be made on Jan. 8, 2016, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 15, 2015.

Eli Lilly and Company and Merck  known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the extension of an existing collaboration to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of Lilly's ALIMTA® (pemetrexed for injection) and Merck's KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in a pivotal Phase III study in first-line nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study will be sponsored by Merck and will be open to patients with NSCLC in the first-line setting, regardless of PD-L1 status. Financial details of the collaboration were not disclosed.

Merck Animal Health (known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada) and Harrisvaccines, Inc., announced the companies have entered into an agreement under which Merck Animal Health will acquire Harrisvaccines, a privately-held company that develops, manufactures and sells vaccines for food production and companion animals.

Merck & Co's drug to reverse the effects of muscle relaxants used in surgery is safe and effective enough to warrant approval, an independent panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. The drug, which goes by the chemical name of sugammadex, has repeatedly been rejected by the FDA due to concerns about potentially dangerous allergic reactions, even though it is approved in more than 75 countries.

Merck a leading science and technology company, announced that the British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has approved on November 2 an updated labeling for Glucophage® XR (extended release metformin) for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes. The label change removes moderate renal impairment stage 3a and stable chronic heart failure from the list of the contraindications of Glucophage® XR.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Pfizer announced the initiation of an international Phase III study of the investigational cancer immunotherapy avelumab* in a treatment naïve advanced NSCLC setting. The study, JAVELIN Lung 100, is designed to assess the safety and efficacy of avelumab compared with platinum-based doublet chemotherapy, in patients with late-stage NSCLC who have not previously received any treatment for their systemic lung cancer. Avelumab (previously known as MSB0010718C) is an investigational fully human anti-PD-L1 IgG1 monoclonal antibody that potentially uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer.

GSK and Merck, known as MSD outside the US and Canada, announced the initiation of a phase I clinical trial designed to evaluate GSK’s investigational immunotherapy GSK3174998 as monotherapy and  in combination with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) in patients with locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic solid tumour(s) that have progressed after standard treatment.

Merck, a leading science and technology company relaunch its brand identity. It will introduce  new logo reflect the transformation into a global science and technology company. Outside the United States and Canada, the company will operate uniformly as Merck.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of Merck's investigational antibiotic Zerbaxa (ceftolozane and tazobactam). This is used for the treatment of the complicated intra-abdominal infections, acute pyelonephritis, and complicated urinary tract infections in adults.