Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, awarded a grant to PATH, a global health nonprofit, to identify game-changing technologies with potential to save the lives of women during pregnancy and childbirth in low-resource settings. Spearheaded by top scientists from Merck for Mothers and PATH, this unique alliance will evaluate more than 30 promising technologies at various stages of development that address the two leading causes of maternal mortality—post-partum hemorrhage and preeclampsia—as well as family planning. The partnership, valued at $2.5 million and extending through Fall 2012, will integrate private- and public-sector expertise to help evaluate affordable and easy-to-use maternal health technologies that work in resource-poor settings.

“PATH is excited to collaborate with Merck to make measurable reductions in maternal mortality,” said Dr. Michael J. Free, vice president and senior advisor for technologies, PATH. “Combining our capabilities will allow the most effective technologies to enter the market, without the usual barriers that come from the lack of private-sector incentives. This is an opportunity to advance needed technologies and make a great impact on maternal health around the world.”

“There are many promising, life-saving maternal health innovations that, left to current market forces, would not reach the mothers who need them, when they need them, at a price they can afford,” said Dr. Naveen Rao, who is leading Merck for Mothers. “By collaborating with PATH, which has deep expertise in developing solutions for the world’s greatest health problems, we will help bring important technologies to countries where women are dying at some of the highest rates. By doing so, we will fulfill a key part of the commitment of Merck for Mothers to advance product development in post-partum hemorrhage, preeclampsia and family planning toward achieving United Nations' Millennium Development Goal 5.”

Merck for Mothers is a new 10-year, half-billion-dollar initiative to create a world where no woman has to die from preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth (merckformothers.com). Drawing on the company’s history of discovering innovative, life-saving medicines and vaccines, Merck for Mothers will apply Merck’s scientific and business expertise—as well as its financial resources and experience in taking on tough global healthcare challenges—to reduce maternal mortality around the world. As part of its focus, the program will seek to accelerate access to proven solutions; develop game-changing prevention, diagnostic and treatment technologies; and support public awareness, improved policies and broader private-sector engagement in the area of maternal health. The collaboration with PATH is a key step in Merck for Mothers’ rapid development of game-changing technologies in maternal health, and the company will leverage the learnings to build an investment strategy for accelerating the development of these technologies.

Researchers at Merck’s Development Center in Oss, Netherlands and PATH’s Technology Solutions Global Program in Seattle will work together to advance promising technologies in different stages of development, with an initial goal of identifying three to five maternal health breakthroughs in the next 12-18 months. The collaboration will evaluate technologies in the prevention, diagnostic and treatment areas for the different stages of pregnancy and childbirth and compare them across multiple parameters, such as commercialization potential, user and stakeholder acceptability and time to impact.

Potential technologies for assessment include:

• Treatments for the prevention of post-partum hemorrhage to assist women in the third stage of labor.
• Pre-natal preeclampsia screening tool to identify high risk women and significantly increase survival rates.
• Effective family planning interventions that are relatively easy to use to encourage higher adherence.

About Maternal Mortality
In the next decade, it is estimated that as many as three million women may die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The majority of these maternal deaths are preventable.

The United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) seek to address the world’s greatest development priorities, with MDG5 focused on reducing the maternal mortality ratio by 75 percent and creating universal access to reproductive health. However, several countries around the world run the risk of failing to meet this goal unless good-quality reproductive health services and well-timed interventions are supplied.

About PATH
PATH is an international nonprofit organization that transforms global health through innovation. PATH takes an entrepreneurial approach to developing and delivering high-impact, low-cost solutions, from lifesaving vaccines and devices to collaborative programs with communities. Through its work in more than 70 countries, PATH and its partners empower people to achieve their full potential. For more information, please visit www.path.org.

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.

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. Such statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the merger between Merck and Schering-Plough, including future financial and operating results, the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Merck's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: the possibility that the expected synergies from the merger of Merck and Schering-Plough will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected time period; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and healthcare legislation; the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully; disruption from the merger making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; Merck's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; dependence on the effectiveness of Merck's patents and other protections for innovative products; the risk of new and changing regulation and health policies in the United States and internationally and the exposure to 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 2010 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).

Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc.

At Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, we are unified around our purpose: We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. For more than 130 years, we have brought hope to humanity through the development of important medicines and vaccines. We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world – and today, we are at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We foster a diverse and inclusive global workforce and operate responsibly every day to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for all people and communities. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

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