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June 13, 2014 7:00 am ET

New Research Initiative Seeks to Identify Unmet Needs and Address Key Gaps in the Management of Type 2 Diabetes

Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada,
today announced the launch of a global registry to evaluate the
experiences and outcomes of approximately 20,000 patients with type 2
diabetes in real-world settings over three years. The registry is part
of Merck’s new global research initiative evaluating outcomes of
patients with type 2 diabetes in everyday clinical practice. The
research initiative and the new registry reflect Merck’s broader
commitment to generate real-world evidence to help advance diabetes care.

The type 2 diabetes registry will be conducted at more than 900 sites
across the United States, Germany, France and Japan. Led by external
experts in each country, the registry will evaluate blood glucose
control, healthcare resource utilization, medication adherence, quality
of life and patient satisfaction.

“Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease that affects an estimated 382
million people worldwide¹,” said Lawrence Blonde, M.D., chair
of the Merck type 2 diabetes registry, and director of the Ochsner
Diabetes Clinical Research Unit in the Department of Endocrinology,
Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the Ochsner Medical Center in New
Orleans. “By evaluating a full range of data, the Merck registry will
provide valuable insights into opportunities to improve the care of
people with type 2 diabetes on both regional and global levels.”

“Real-world research is a meaningful assessment of the day-to-day
management of patients with diabetes—and is an important complement to
clinical trials as we seek to identify unmet needs and new solutions to
help improve patient outcomes, access and adherence,” Peter Stein, M.D.,
vice president, diabetes and endocrinology, Merck Research Laboratories.
“We are thrilled to partner with our academic collaborators on this
initiative, and to build on Merck’s leadership in diabetes and our
commitment to scientific innovation.”

About Merck’s type 2 diabetes registry

This multinational prospective registry is designed to generate
comprehensive, real-world data on patients diagnosed with type 2
diabetes. The registry will utilize various data sources, such as
surveys, and administrative claims data in the United States. Through
these various data sources, the registry will help to identify gaps in
type 2 diabetes management and provide other important information.

Merck’s commitment to diabetes

Through these and many more initiatives, on our own and with others,
Merck is strengthening its leadership in diabetes to deliver a broad
portfolio of solutions to help improve the management of diabetes.

About type 2 diabetes

Twenty-nine million people in the United States² and 382
million globally have diabetes,¹ and 90% to 95% of these
people have type 2 diabetes.² The number of patients with
diabetes globally is expected to exceed 500 million by 2035.¹
One in three American men and 2 in 5 American women born in 2000 will
develop diabetes sometime during their lifetime.³
Approximately 50 percent of patients globally remain undiagnosed.¹
The current global healthcare expenditures are approximately $548
billion.¹

When someone has type 2 diabetes, the body does not make enough insulin
and/or the insulin that the body makes does not work properly. This
causes blood sugar levels to become too high, and the body may also keep
making sugar even though it does not need it.^4,5 Once a
person has type 2 diabetes, it does not go away, and having diabetes can
lead to serious health problems, such as heart disease and stroke.^4,5

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 prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and
consumer care and animal health 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, visit www.merck.com
and connect with us on Twitter,
Facebook
and YouTube.

Merck 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 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 2013 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 (www.sec.gov).

___________________________
¹ International Diabetes
Federation. Diabetes Atlas, 6^th Edition. Found at: http://www.idf.org/sites/default/files/EN_6E_Atlas_Full_0.pdf.
Accessed 18 April 2014.
² Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. National Diabetes Statistics Report: Estimates
of Diabetes and Its Burden in the United States, 2014. Atlanta, GA:
US Department of Health and Human Services; 2014.
³
Narayan KMV, Boyle JP, Thompson TJ, Sorensen SW, Williamson DF. Lifetime
risk for diabetes mellitus in the United States. JAMA 2003 October
8;290(14):1884-1890.
⁴ American Diabetes Association.
Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2014. Diabetes Care. 2014;
37(suppl 1):S14–S80.
⁵ Ali MK, Bullard KM, Saaddine JB,
Cowie CC, Imperatore G, Gregg EW. Achievement of Goals in U.S. Diabetes
Care, 1999–2010. New England Journal of Medicine. 2013;368:1613–1624.

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