We are a vibrant science and technology company. Science is at the heart of everything we do. It drives the discoveries we make and the technologies we create. We make a positive difference in the lives of millions of people every day.
In the Healthcare business sector, we accompany people in every phase of their life and help them to shape, improve, and prolong it. We enable personalized treatments for serious illnesses and help many couples to realize their wish to have children. The digital platform and the products and services in our Life Science business sector make precision research simpler and help to speed up scientific breakthroughs. They enable quicker access to healthcare and ensure that analyses are accurate and medications are trustworthy. The developments we make in our Performance Materials business sector sit inside the technologies that are changing the way we use information and shaping our future. They make mobility safer, houses and devices more intelligent, and technologies more sustainable.
Everything we do is fueled by a belief in science and technology as a force for good – a belief that has driven our work since 1668, and will continue to inspire us to find more joyful and sustainable ways to live. We are curious minds dedicated to human progress.
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, holds the rights to the name and the trademark “MERCK” internationally except for the United States and Canada, In these countries, we operate as EMD Serono in the biopharmaceutical business, as MilliporeSigma in the life science business, and as EMD Performance Materials in the high-tech materials business.
Apart from our three business sectors, our financial reporting presents five regions: Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. As of December 31, 2020, we had 58,127 employees worldwide1. This compares with 57,071 employees as of December 31, 2019.
1 The Group also has employees at sites that are not fully consolidated subsidiaries. These figures refer to all people directly employed by the Group and therefore may deviate from figures in the financial section of this report.