Merck & Company, Inc. Common Stock (new)

Merck has balanced organic reinvestment with disciplined M&A and collaborations. R&D expenses were about 15.0 billion dollars in 2025, reflecting sustained internal investment.

Externally, Merck acquired Verona (COPD, ~10 billion dollars, closed Oct 2025), is acquiring Terns (CML candidate, ~6.7 billion dollars, announced Mar 2026), added Elanco’s aqua business to Animal Health, and executed a major ADC collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo.

Shareholder returns remained active with roughly 5.1 billion dollars of share repurchases in 2025 and a rising dividend per share. Occasional one‑time charges and 2023 IPR&D expense spikes reflect the strategy’s aggressiveness, but we view the portfolio build as sensible ahead of Keytruda LOE.