merck co

A three-judge federal appeals court panel on Monday rejected an attempt by drugmaker Merck & Co. to win a refund of nearly $500 million in taxes assessed two decades ago.

Here are sales figures for the first quarter for Merck & Co.'s 10 top-selling drugs:

Merck & Co. Inc. said Wednesday its board of directors approved the buyback of up to $5 billion in common stock for the drug developer's treasury.

Drugmaker Merck & Co. said on Saturday that a new study shows that its cholesterol drug Vytorin helps reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and the need for heart surgeries in some chronic kidney patients by 16 percent.

Merck & Co. says it will seek a new trial or a ruling in its favor even after a federal judge slashed the jury verdict against the drugmaker in the case of a woman alleging Merck's osteoporosis drug severely damaged her jaw.

Merck & Co.'s chief executive, who oversaw the drug maker's acquisition of Schering-Plough Corp. last fall, received a compensation package valued at $11.9 million in 2009, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing Merck made late Monday.

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA has completed its $4 billion purchase of Merck & Co.'s half interest in their veterinary medicine business, Merial Ltd.

Drugmaker Merck & Co. and Britain's largest charity, the Wellcome Trust, are starting a not-for-profit partnership to create affordable vaccines against diseases common in poor countries.

A federal judge has declared a mistrial in the first trial over whether Merck & Co.'s osteoporosis drug, Fosamax, causes painful jaw bone destruction.

Merck & Co.'s head of vaccines, Margaret G. McGlynn, is retiring effective Nov. 1, the drugmaker said Monday.