Merck to Buy Schering-Plough for $41.1B
March 9, 2009 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under Business
On Monday it was revealed that Merck & Co., Inc. is set to acquire Schering-Plough Corporation for $41.1 billion. The deal will unite the makers of the cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin.
Merck and Schering-Plough both cut a large number of jobs last fall and this deal would eliminate even more employees. It is said about 15% of their combined workforce would be eliminated with the deal. Most of the job cuts would happen outside of the U.S., however.
Just two weeks ago it was announced that two other large pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Wyeth, are also involved in a major deal. On January 26, the announcement came that Pfizer will buy Wyeth for $68 billion in cash and stock. About 20,000 jobs will be eliminated in that transaction.
Zetia and Vytorin - Image: Wikimedia Commons
Both companies have seen profits and share prices decrease in the past year due to plunge in sales. However Merck has deep pockets and would be able to assist in funding some of Schering-Plough’s research on blood clotting and hepatitis C drugs.
Watch the video to learn more about this mega drug deal.
