MSD Pharmaceuticals - Be well Generic drugs

Drugs and medications list from MSD Pharmaceuticals - Be well

Drug manufacture link: www.msdindia.in

MSD - be well

The company that is known as MSD is, in fact, has the whole name Merck Sharp & Dohme. This is the name the American pharmaceutical giant Merck uses for its overseas businesses, i.e. when the medicines of the company are sold in other countries than the U.S. In 2016, the turnover of the company accounted more than 39 billion of the U.S. Dollars making it 4th largest pharmaceutical concern in the world.

History of MSD

Merck & Co. originates from Jacob Friedrich Merck, who in 1668 bought a pharmacy in Darmstadt, Germany. A century and a half later, in 1827, Heinrich Emanuel Merck, who led the family business, promoted its transition to mass production of medicines and fine chemicals, thanks to which his company, named then E. Merck, has become the largest producer of alkaloids (morphine, codeine, cocaine).

During the nineteenth century, Merck expanded its presence on the market starting to export its products to the United States. But by the end of the century, Merck distributors in the U.S. began using the company's name to sell low-quality products, which forced Merck to protect its reputation and to open in 1887 a representation in New York. In 1891, George Merck, the 24-year-old grandson of Heinrich Emanuel Merck, was sent to lead the US branch of E. Merck. In 1899, he purchased a site in New Jersey, where a factory, a laboratory was built, and where up until the 1990s the headquarters of the Merck & Co. founded by him was located. Initially, this subsidiary company was engaged in import from Germany, but since 1903 its own production was established. Also in 1899, the first edition of the medical manual Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy was published.

After the United States joined the First World War in 1917, George Merck was forced to sever official relations with the parent company in Germany, he also voluntarily transferred almost 80% of Merck & Co. shares. of the Office of Foreign Property Management (Alien Property Custodian, APC) in the hope that they will be returned after the war. But in 1919, the company's shares were put up for an open auction, in which George Merck bought them for $ 3.75 million. Since then, Merck & Co. became an independent company in the United States.

By 1928, Merck had amassed enough money to allow itself to make large investments in research and development. For this purpose, Randolph Major was hired, who for the next 26 years was the company's leading specialist. He changed the structure of Merck: he created a centralized system of research laboratories, created a laboratory of pure and fundamental research, applied research laboratory, took a direct part in organizing the production of substances created in the laboratory, assembled a team of outstanding chemists such as Karl Folkers, Max Tishler, Lewis Sarett, and many others, and also determined the direction of the company's research for several decades to come. Under his leadership, the synthesis and production of vitamins B1, B2, B12, cortisone, streptomycin antibiotic (1943) and others were developed.

After the World War II, Merck dramatically increased its presence in overseas markets, mainly in Europe. The company's sales rose from $ 24 million in 1940 to $ 171 million in 1951. However, until 1953, Merck, was engaged in purely production of preparations, which were then sold in wholesale to other companies for packaging and sale under those companies’ names. The situation changed in 1953 with the merger with another Philadelphian company, Sharp and Dohme, which, in addition to research centers and production facilities, had a well-developed marketing department and retail sales network.

The merger of the two companies made the merged company the largest producer of drugs in the U.S. This company has retained the name Merck in the United States and Canada, but outside of North America uses the name Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD). In 1957, when George Merck Jr. died, the company's turnover crossed the $ 100 million mark.

The company is known for the development and sale of vaccines, the most important from a medical point of view were the vaccine against mumps, measles (1963), and the world's first rubella vaccine (1967); Both were developed by the scientist Maurice Hilleman. The development of the rubella vaccine has reduced the incidence of congenital defects in the United States from 10,000 cases per year to zero.

In 1976, there was a change in leadership and in the following years several successful drugs were developed, such as the hepatitis vaccine, a cure for glaucoma thymoptic, an anti-hypertensive drug Enalapril, and several contracts for the sale of foreign medicines in the United States, in particular with the Swedish company Astra AB (1982) and Japanese Shionogi. The partnership with Astra AB in 1984 developed into a joint venture between Astra Merck Inc.

By the late 1980s, the company had emerged as a leader in the pharmaceutical industry due to introduction of such drugs as Vasotec (congestive heart failure medication), Mevacor and Zocor (Mevacor and Zocor, lovastatin, the first drug in the statin class to lower the level cholesterol), ivermectin (the most popular veterinary drug in the world). In 1989, a joint venture with Johnson & Johnson for the manufacture of over-the-counter drugs was established.

In 1985, Merck received permission for imipenem, the first member of the carbapenem class of antibiotics. Antibiotics of the carbapenem class play an important role in the treatment of some nosocomial and resistant to other antibiotic infections.
In 1994, the company began to reorganize, during which several non-core subsidiaries were sold: Kelco (Monsanto for $ 1.1 billion), Calgon Vestal Laboratories (Bristol-Myers Squibb Company for $ 261 million), a pesticide unit (Novartis for $ 910 million), share in joint venture with EI du Pont for $ 2.6 billion.

In November 2009, Merck announced a merger with rival Schering-Plow in the US, indicating a deal amount of $ 41 billion.

Social contribution

In 1987, Merck & Co. began collaborating with UNICEF, donating its new drug to fight onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, a loss of sight due to infection caused by a worm parasite, a disease prevalent primarily in Africa. Merck's participation is considered a key factor in the successful fight against this disease worldwide; over seven hundred million people have been cured of the disease since the start of the program. Moreover, onchocerciasis in some parts of Latin America and Africa is completely eradicated.

This program is not the only one that can be considered a social contribution. In every country the company is present, it strives to maximally contribute to the healthcare development and improvement of nation’s health through awareness programs, vaccines, free diagnostics, and so on.

The main medications made by MSD

As of August 2014, thanks to intensive research and development, Merck owned the largest number of new drugs in the world. Just in 2014, 63 new drugs were approved in the United States. In 2016, Merck's main products were:
- Januvia (Sitagliptin), an inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In 2013, Januvia became the second bestselling diabetes medicine in the world. This medication is particularly popular because unlike other anti-diabetes medications it didn’t cause a significant increase in the body mass.
- Zetia (Ezetrol, Ezetimibe), a drug for lowering cholesterol in the blood. Sales in 2013 amounted to $ 2.7 billion.
- Remicade (Infliximab), a monoclonal antibody directed to the cytokine TNF-alpha and used to treat a wide range of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, and others.
- Gardasil, a vaccine for recombinant human papillomavirus effective against several serotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the cause of most cases of cervical cancer. The sales of the vaccine in 2016 amounted to $ 2.2 billion.
- Isentress (raltegravir), an inhibitor of integrase of human immunodeficiency virus, used to treat HIV infection. This is the first anti-HIV compound with this mechanism of action. The drug is a part of one of several first-line treatment regimens recommended by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
- Keytruda (Pembrolizumab) is an immunomodulator for cancer treatment and according to the FDA, a breakthrough in the treatment of melanoma. In clinical trials, Pembrolizumab causes partial regression of tumors in approximately one-quarter of patients, many of whom have not experienced further progression of the disease for 6 months of follow-up. Sales in 2016 amounted to $ 1.4 billion.
- Cubicin (daptomycin) is an antibiotic for skin infections. Sales in 2016 amounted to $ 1.1 billion.
- Vaccines. The main drugs by sales: ProQuad (measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, $ 495 million); M-M-R II (measles, mumps, rubella, $ 353 million); Varivax (chicken pox, $ 792 million); Zostavax (shingles, $ 685 million); RotaTeq (rotavirus gastroenteritis; $ 685 million); Pneumovax 23 (pneumococcus, $ 641 million).
- Singulair (montelukast), an agent for the treatment of asthma and the removal of symptoms of allergic rhinitis. Sales in 2016 were $ 915 million.
- Simponi, an anti-inflammatory drug, sales in 2016 amounted to $ 766 million, mainly in Europe, Russia and Turkey.
- Contraceptives. The most sold contraceptive means companies are NuvaRing (vaginal contraceptive, sales in 2016 were $ 777 million) and Implanon/Nexplanon (subcutaneous implant, $ 606 million).

Medications made by MSD that you can buy at our online drugstore

At the moment, in our range of products we have the following medications by MSD:
- Januvia based on Sitagliptin, an oral hypoglycemic drug, an inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes designed and sold by Merck & Co or MSD internationally. Sitagliptin is also used in combination with other hypoglycemic drugs for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In 2013, Januvia became the second bestselling diabetes medicine in the world. Normally, Januvia is used in conjunction with metformin. This medication is particularly popular because unlike other anti-diabetes medications it didn’t cause a significant increase in the body mass. You can find this medication in our Diabetes medications section but before you buy it, please make sure to consult your doctor.