Impact Report 2022/2023

Overview	
02
A letter from our CEO________________________________________________03
Our Company_______________________________________________________05
Our approach_ _____________________________________________________ 06
Our sustainability focus areas_________________________________________07
Access to Health_________________________________________________ 14
Employees______________________________________________________23
Environmental Sustainability______________________________________27
Ethics & Values__________________________________________________30
References_ ________________________________________________________32
GRI/SASB disclosures	
33
General disclosures__________________________________________________34
Economic___________________________________________________________ 51
Environmental_ ____________________________________________________ 84
Social_____________________________________________________________ 114
Indices	
158
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)______________________________________158
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)_____________________166
UN Global Compact (UNGC)_ ________________________________________ 170
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)____________________________ 171
Culture of Health for Business (COH4B)_______________________________ 173
World Economic Forum (WEF) Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics_ _________ 175
About this report
This is the 2022/2023 Impact Report of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, which is known as MSD 
outside the United States (U.S.) and Canada. All data is current as of December 31, 2022, unless 
otherwise noted. Information on documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(SEC), such as our 2022 Form 10-K and 2023 Proxy Statement, can be found on SEC.gov. 
To align with U.S. government reporting requirements, the data for gender diversity in this report 
uses the terms men and women. We recognize and embrace the gender spectrum and diversity of 
our employees, and have internally established voluntary Self-ID options for employees to self-report 
on their gender identity. The totals in this report may not equal 100 percent due to rounding 
or employees who have not reported their gender and/or race/ethnicity.
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MSD Impact Report 2022/2023
Overview

A letter from our CEO
Dear Stakeholders, 
Thank you for your interest in MSD and our ongoing 
commitment to operating responsibly and creating value for 
patients, our stakeholders and our business. We continue to 
take inspiration from our purpose and our unique opportunity 
to use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve 
lives around the world. 
Sustainable value creation is core to how we do business as 
we work to advance global health, apply innovative science 
and ultimately protect and improve the health of people and 
animals through the development and delivery of medicines, 
vaccines and technology solutions. We are passionate about 
this work and committed to making a positive difference for 
patients and the world while driving strong business outcomes. 
Working globally as One Team, we organize our sustainability 
efforts across four focus areas to create long-term value: 
1) expanding access to health; 2) developing and rewarding 
a diverse, inclusive and healthy workforce; 3) protecting the 
environment; and 4) operating with the highest standards of 
ethics and values.
Expanding access to health 
Two years ago, we set a goal to enable 100 million more people 
to access our innovative portfolio globally, through access 
strategies, solutions and partnerships, by 2025. We exceeded 
this goal already in 2022. As a result, we increased our ambition 
and more than tripled our original goal. We now aim to enable 
350 million more people to access our innovative portfolio 
by 2025.  
We are eager to reach more people not only now, but in the 
years to come. To this end, we pursued new scientific discoveries 
with an investment last year of $13.5 billion in research and 
development. In total, our products and pipeline seek to address 
83 percent of the top 20 global burdens of diseases.
Robert M. Davis | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
In 2022, our MECTIZAN® Donation Program turned 35 years old. 
The longest-running disease-specific drug donation program 
of its kind, this successful effort to combat river blindness and 
lymphatic filariasis reached nearly 360 million people last year. 
We also invested $38 million to advance health equity through 
initiatives like MSD for Mothers. These investments support 
our goal to reach over 30 million people in low- and middle-
income countries (LMICs) and in U.S. underserved populations 
with our social investments, by 2025. We surpassed this goal as 
well in 2022. Our new goal is to reach over 50 million people in 
LMICs, underserved populations in the U.S. and, going forward, 
underserved populations in other high-income countries, 
by 2025.
Developing and rewarding a diverse, inclusive 
and healthy workforce
We are committed to investing in our colleagues and building 
a strong pipeline of talent as an employer of choice. Across our 
organization, we value diversity and inclusion as both an ethical 
and business priority. 
We are becoming even more inclusive in our hiring, working 
with organizations including OneTen, a business coalition 
striving to close the opportunity gap for Black workers without 
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four-year college degrees. In order to create more access to 
meaningful career opportunities for diverse candidates, we 
posted about 900 job openings not requiring a four-year degree, 
which was twice as many as the previous year. In addition, 
in 2022 we hosted 90 student interns through Year Up, a 
nonprofit serving economically disadvantaged young people. 
Women represented more than half of our new hires globally, 
and in the United States, 47 percent of new hires came from 
underrepresented ethnic groups. 
We have a longstanding commitment to fair and equitable pay 
for all employees doing similar work. In the U.S., our 2022 study 
found that we had achieved greater than 99 percent pay equity 
for female and male employees, as well as non-white (including 
Black, Hispanic and Asian employees) and white employees. 
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion also extends to our 
business partners. Last year, we spent $3.2 billion with diverse 
Tier 1 and 2 suppliers globally.
Protecting the environment
Our Company has a long history of environmental stewardship, 
and we believe a healthy planet is essential to improving health 
and protecting the sustainability of our business. As part of 
this work, we have committed to the Science Based Targets 
initiative (SBTi) to set a net-zero target for our greenhouse gas 
(GHG) emissions across our global operations (Scopes 1, 2, 3).
We know that each of our research, production and office 
facilities plays a role in achieving our goals for energy efficiency, 
waste reduction and overall sustainability. In 2022, we created a 
Waste Diversion Playbook to help sites contribute to our goals 
through local waste-diversion strategies, such as composting and 
recycling, and environmentally responsible procurement practices.
Operating with the highest standards of ethics and values 
We operate responsibly every day, holding ourselves to the 
highest standards of ethics and values. Our code of conduct 
defines our corporate character and helps us protect our 
reputation as a trustworthy company. We maintain 100 percent 
compliance to regulatory requirements for active incident 
monitoring, risk and harm analysis, and timely notification of 
data breaches. We also encourage employees to speak up and 
report potential concerns, ensuring our ethics and values are 
reflected in all we do. 
As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), 
MSD remains committed to improving our communities 
through our operations, aligning our efforts with the Ten 
Principles of the UNGC.
In late 2021, we announced the issuance of our first $1 billion 
sustainability bond to support initiatives and partnerships 
contributing to the advancement of the United Nations 
Sustainable Development Goals. Through June 2022, we 
allocated $760 million of the net proceeds toward social 
and green projects, in alignment with our sustainability 
financing framework.
While my colleagues and I are pleased by our 2022 progress, 
we remain committed to doing more to advance and protect 
the health of our employees, communities and planet. Indeed, 
I want to thank our colleagues and partners for the passion and 
expertise brought to this work every day. I am honored to work 
alongside such a talented and dedicated team. 
Thank you again for your interest in our Company’s progress 
and performance. We are excited for our future—and the 
unique opportunity we have to make a difference through 
our research, our medicines and vaccines, and our enduring 
commitment to sustainable innovation and value creation.
Very best regards,
Rob Davis 
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
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Overview

Our Company
At MSD, 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 strive to 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. 
How we operate
We manage the Company through two operating segments, 
Pharmaceutical and Animal Health.
The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical 
and vaccine products. Human health pharmaceutical products 
consist of therapeutic and preventive agents, generally sold by 
prescription, for the treatment of human disorders. 
The Company sells these products primarily to drug wholesalers 
and retailers, hospitals, government agencies and managed 
health care providers such as health maintenance organizations, 
pharmacy benefit managers and other institutions. Human health 
vaccine products consist of preventive pediatric, adolescent and 
adult vaccines, which are sold primarily to physicians, wholesalers, 
physician distributors and government entities.
The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures 
and markets a wide range of veterinary pharmaceutical and 
vaccine products, as well as health management solutions and 
services, for the prevention, treatment and control of disease in 
all major livestock and companion animal species. The Company 
also offers an extensive suite of digitally connected identification, 
traceability and monitoring products. Animal Health products are 
sold to veterinarians, distributors, animal producers, farmers and 
pet owners.
As of December 31, 2022, 
we had approximately
69,000
employees worldwide
2022 annual revenue:
$59.3B
More than 
500M people 
reached with our 
innovations in 20221
R&D spend in 2022:
$13.5B
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Our 
approach
Our Values
Patients First
Ethics and Integrity
Respect for People
Innovation and Scientific Excellence
Our 
Aspiration
We aspire to be the 
premier research-intensive 
biopharmaceutical company
Our 
Purpose
We use the power of 
leading-edge science to 
save and improve lives 
around the world
Our Ways of Working
Win as
one team
Focus on
what matters
Act with
urgency
Experiment, learn
and adapt
Embrace diversity
and inclusion
Speak up and be
open-minded
We operate responsibly every day on behalf of society, shareholders and all our stakeholders to 
enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for people and communities everywhere.
Invest in, augment, 
and accelerate our 
pipeline to deliver 
life-changing products
Demonstrate value to 
our stakeholders and 
extend access to 
solutions that address 
unmet medical needs
Drive  innovation, 
growth and productivity 
enabled by digital 
and data
Invest in the growth, 
success, and well-being 
of our people
Our Priorities
For more than 130 years, we've been dedicated to operating responsibly and creating value for society. That commitment is 
one of our ongoing strengths and core to our business, which is why operating responsibly  is part of the foundation of our 
Strategic Framework, denoting our commitment to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for people and communities.
We believe creating greater accountability for our sustainability strategy will help drive financial results and long-term 
shareholder value. This is why we added new measures to our 2023 Company Scorecard that link the compensation for a 
majority of our employees, including our executives, to certain key sustainability metrics in the areas of Access to Health 
and Employees.
Our strategic framework
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Our sustainability focus areas
Over the past year, we challenged ourselves to innovate and make ambitious commitments within each of our focus areas. 
Through collaborative partnerships and a holistic approach, we’re creating scalable solutions to major global issues.
Access to Health
Employees
Environmental
Sustainability
Ethics & Values
In collaboration with key 
stakeholders, we work to ensure 
our science advances health care, 
and our products are accessible 
and affordable to those in need. 
Our Company’s success is built 
on a culture that embraces 
different perspectives and 
values the contributions of each 
individual. We recognize that our 
competitiveness is strengthened 
by a diverse, skilled and 
engaged workforce.
A healthy planet is essential to 
human health and the sustainability 
of our business, while also 
providing opportunities for 
product innovation and reducing 
cost and risk. Our Company has 
a long history of environmental 
stewardship and compliance, and 
we realize that our strategy and 
efforts need to continuously evolve 
in the face of a changing climate.
We operate with the highest 
standards of ethics and integrity. 
By putting our ethics and values 
at the foundation of everything 
we do, we create an accountable 
culture that betters our Company’s 
decision-making, adaptability 
and reliability.
 To learn more, see page 14.
 To learn more, see page 23.
 To learn more, see page 27.
 To learn more, see page 30.
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ESG materiality assessment
There are hundreds of ESG topics a company can focus on 
at any given moment. An ESG materiality assessment is the 
process through which our Company gathers information about 
the external landscape, and our internal priorities, in order to 
fine-tune this larger list down to the most important strategic 
topics for our Company to address.
Understanding and prioritizing the issues that matter most 
to our business and stakeholders enables us to focus, act 
and report on them effectively and transparently. Our ESG 
materiality assessment process helps us to focus on potential 
business risks and opportunities that influence our ability 
to create value. It helps us determine where we should be 
prioritizing our efforts in order to maximize the benefit for 
our stakeholders, our Company and the world.
 To learn more about our ESG materiality process, please see page 49.
Material topics
In our 2023 ESG materiality assessment, the following topics 
emerged as the most critical for our Company to address, and 
are grouped below by our four focus areas:
Access to Health
•	 Access to health care and medicine (pages 54-76) 
•	 Equity and affordability (pages 64-76) 
•	 Product safety and quality 
(pages 54-76, 77-82, 148-155) 
•	 Public health risks (pages 54-76)
Employees
•	 Employee diversity and inclusion (pages 134-142)
•	 Employee health and safety (pages 119-129) 
•	 Talent management (pages 39, 47-49, 114-142)
Environmental Sustainability
•	 Climate change risks and management
 (pages 52-53, 88-91, 101-106)
Ethics & Values
•	 Ethical corporate behavior 
(pages 44-45, 81-82, 154-155, 
Code of Conduct & Compliance) 
•	 Privacy and data security (pages 156-157)
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Our priority UN Sustainable 
Development Goals (SDGs)
The SDGs represent the international community’s plan of 
action for “people, planet and prosperity.” The 2030 Agenda 
for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations 
Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace 
and prosperity for the planet and its people. At its core are the 
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We believe we have an important role and a responsibility 
to help reduce the burden of disease and improve access to 
medicines and vaccines around the world. That is why SDG 3 
(Good Health and Well-being) is at the heart of our business. 
It also aligns with our purpose to save and improve lives. 
While every SDG is essential to fostering sustainable 
development, we have prioritized eight goals where we 
believe we can have the biggest impact.
 A full SDG index can be found on page 171.
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Sustainability Goals & Performance
We are driving sustainability progress by setting ambitious goals across four focus areas that matter most to our Company and 
create value for our stakeholders:
Access to Health
Further advance health equity by reaching 30 million people in low- and 
middle-income countries (LMICs) and in U.S. underserved populations 
with our social investments, by 2025.2,3 (number of people in millions)
Reach at least 75% of countries around the world annually with 
our products.4
15.0
79%
66.7
18.6
76%
189.2
33.6
Goal
Progress
2021
2022
Total
Enable 100 million more people to access our innovative portfolio globally, 
through access strategies, solutions and partnerships, by 2025.5 
(number of people in millions)
Employees
Goal
Progress
2021
2022
Increase representation in senior management roles,6 by 2024:
Women globally to 40%, up from 31% in 2020.
Black/African Americans in the U.S. to 10%, up from 3% in 2020.
Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. to 10%, up from 5% in 2020.
Maintain or exceed our current inclusion index score, by 2025.7
Maintain or exceed our current employee engagement index score, 
by 2025.7
36%
7%
6%
On track
On track
On track
On track
34%
6%
8%
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Environmental Sustainability
Ethics & Values
Goal
Goal
Progress
Progress
Achieve carbon neutrality across our operations by 2025
(Scopes 1 & 2 emissions).8
Maintain 100% compliance to regulatory requirements for active incident 
monitoring, risk/harm analysis and on-time notification of data breaches.13 
Source 100% of our purchased electricity from renewable sources by 2025.9
Reduce our value chain (Scope 3) GHG emissions 30% by 2030, from a 
2019 baseline.10
Reduce our operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 
(i.e., Scopes 1 & 2) 46% by 2030, from a 2019 baseline.8
Foster a “Speak Up” culture by maintaining or exceeding our current 
percentage of employees responding favorably to the “Willingness to 
report” question in the Pulse survey as an annual average.11,12
2021
2022
9% 
reduction
9% 
increase
9% 
reduction
6% 
increase
41%
In progress. Any remaining 
emissions will be offset with 
high-quality offsets in 2025.
45%
2021
2022
On track12
100% 
compliance 
maintained
On track
100% 
compliance 
maintained
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359 million
People reached through the MECTIZAN Donation Program to treat 
river blindness and lymphatic filariasis in 2022
$38 million
Our social investments made in 2022 to address health equity
>100 million doses
Our HPV vaccine commitment for use in Gavi-supported countries 
from 2021-2025
>5 million courses
Investigational antiviral COVID-19 medicine delivered to more 
than 20 low- and middle-income countries for distribution (2021-2022)
MSD for Mothers
Our $650 million global commitment to help create a world where 
no woman has to die while giving life
2022/2023 Highlights
Access to Health
Environmental Sustainability
Employees
Ethics & Values
>99%
Pay equity achieved in the U.S. in 2022 for female and male employees, as 
well as for non-white (including Black, Hispanic and Asian employees) and 
white employees
47%
New hires in the U.S. in 2022 who are members of underrepresented 
ethnic groups 
$3.2 billion
Spending with diverse Tier 1 and 2 suppliers globally in 2022
Net zero
In 2023, our Company made a commitment to the Science Based 
Targets initiative (SBTi) for our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 
across our global operations (Scopes 1, 2, 3)
6 years
Consecutive times since 2017 our Company has been honored as 
a winner of the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards sponsored by 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and/or the American 
Chemistry Society 
24/7
Availability of our MSDethics.com reporting tool, which allows 
employees and third parties to raise concerns confidentially and 
anonymously (where permitted by law) 
>99%
Employees who completed our Code of Conduct training series in 2022
10 points
Allocation (out of 100) to sustainability metrics tied to our Access to 
Health and Employees focus areas in our 2023 Company Scorecard, 
which impacts annual incentive pay for executives and the majority 
of global employees
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Latino Leaders Magazine
One of 30 companies on the 
Best Companies for Latinos 
to Work list (2022)
Fortune
Recognized on the Change the 
World list for the third time in 
five years for our work to expand 
access to medicines (2022)
Newsweek & Statista
America's Most Responsible 
Companies list 
#4 overall and #1 in the sector (2023)
Awards and recognition
We're proud that our longstanding commitment to drive responsible actions across the business has received external recognition 
as we strive to manage ESG-related risks and create value for our Company, society and our stakeholders.
Human Rights Campaign
Recognized on the Best Places to 
Work for LGBTQ+ Equality list for 
receiving a 100% rating (2022) 
Seramount
One of 75 companies on the 
Top Companies for Executive 
Women list (2022)
Barron’s
Top 100 Most Sustainable 
U.S. Companies
#29 overall and #1 in the sector (2023)
JUST Capital
America’s Most JUST Companies
#26 overall and #1 in the sector (2023)
3BL Media
100 Best Corporate Citizens 
#6 overall and #1 in the sector (2022)
Investor's Business Daily
100 Best ESG Companies 
#9 overall and #1 in the sector (2022)
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Access to Health is core to our Company’s purpose to use the 
power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around 
the world. We focus on discovering, developing and delivering 
innovative products and services that improve health and 
address unmet needs. We actively work in partnership with 
a range of stakeholders, including multilateral organizations, 
NGOs, and governments to strengthen health systems, doing 
our part to ensure care is affordable, efficient and equitable. 
Our guiding principles
Our multi-prong, enterprise-wide approach is anchored in 
our Access to Health Guiding Principles, which are embedded 
across our Company, with accountability for progress held at 
leadership levels. These Principles include leading scientific 
discovery and invention of medicines and vaccines that address 
unmet need; ensuring availability and affordability of our 
innovative portfolio; and addressing barriers to health equity. 
Our Access to Health goals reflect our commitment to deliver 
on these Principles for all stakeholders. 
Focus area:
Access to Health
More than 500 million people reached 
with our innovations1
In 2022, we reached more than 500 million people with our 
innovations across commercial channels, clinical trials, access 
strategies like our partnership with Gavi and UNICEF, voluntary 
licensing of antiviral treatments including our investigational 
antiviral COVID-19 medicine, and medicine and vaccine donations. 
•	 Further advance health equity by reaching 30 million people 
in LMICs and in U.S. underserved populations with our social 
investments, by 20252,3 
•	 Reach at least 75% of countries around the world annually 
with our products4
•	 Enable 100 million more people to access our innovative 
portfolio globally, through access strategies, solutions and 
partnerships, by 20255
Goals
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Discovery and invention
We build on our legacy of putting patients first by inventing 
medicines and vaccines to address unmet medical need, 
including for conditions with high global burden of disease. 
As part of our R&D strategy, we evaluate our candidates early 
for their potential to address significant public health concerns 
in underserved settings, including LMICs. 
Our research pipeline, products which we currently market, 
and our external collaborations seek to address 83 percent of 
the world’s top health burdens, including some that primarily 
affect LMICs. For example, our investigational vaccine for 
dengue fever is currently in a Phase 2 trial. With approximately 
half of the world’s population, or four billion people, at risk for 
dengue disease, dengue is a critical public health challenge. 
Annually, there are an estimated 105 million dengue infections 
worldwide; on average, 50-60 million of those cause symptoms. 
We also have a collaboration with Instituto Butantan to share 
data and learnings from our dengue vaccine programs.
In addition, we collaborate with academic institutions, 
nonprofit organizations, government entities and other 
biopharmaceutical companies, so we can follow the latest 
science and bring our medicines and vaccines to patients. 
In 2022, we entered into 97 significant external licenses, 
collaborations, and acquisitions with a broad range of partners, 
from early-stage science to clinical-stage programs. These 
collaborations are deemed “significant” because they involve 
an asset or technology with the potential to make an important 
enhancement to our R&D capabilities or potential portfolio.
Collaborating to fight infectious disease
We continue our strong legacy of infectious disease research, 
including for those diseases with greater impact to LMICs like 
tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria. 
In late 2022, MSD entered into a licensing agreement with 
the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute for two 
preclinical candidates with potential in combination regimens 
for treating TB, one of the top 10 causes of death in LMICs; 
one of these compounds advanced to a Phase 1 clinical trial 
earlier this year. MSD scientists discovered the compounds 
as part of the TB Drug Accelerator, a collaboration among 
biopharmaceutical companies, research organizations and 
universities to accelerate new TB therapies, supported by 
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
HIV is a global epidemic that disproportionately affects 
populations in LMICs in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, two-thirds 
of the more than 35 million people living with HIV reside in the 
region, accounting for about 75 percent of HIV-related deaths, 
globally. MSD continues its more than 35 years of scientific 
research to address the HIV epidemic. We have a broad R&D 
program, including a Phase 3 development program for a new 
once-daily two-drug regimen and a Phase 2 study evaluating 
an investigational weekly oral combination treatment of our 
antiviral islatravir and Gilead Sciences’ lenacapavir, part of an 
agreement with Gilead to study long-acting HIV treatments. 
In addition, as part of our ongoing partnership with the 
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we recently began a Phase 1b 
study to evaluate potential mechanisms for an oral long-acting 
HIV prevention option. 
We continue to collaborate on new options for malaria, an 
infection with rising resistance to existing treatments and 
which remains one of the largest killers of pregnant women and 
children under the age of five in most resource-poor countries. 
A new antimalarial drug candidate, discovered through our 
longstanding collaboration with the Walter and Eliza Hall 
Institute of Medical Research in Australia and with funding from 
the Wellcome Trust, recently entered Phase 1 clinical testing.
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Reformulating our products for patient benefit
Innovation goes beyond new treatments. With a focus on improving 
adherence and enhancing the patient experience, we also strive 
to provide new options that increase the ease of administration. 
For example, in HIV, we are researching long-acting medications 
designed to reduce the frequency of administration. 
A legacy of bettering human health 
We strive to discover treatments for diseases that affect people 
across a breadth of countries globally, such as cardiovascular 
disease. MSD has a long history of developing treatments for 
cardiovascular disease. More than 60 years ago, we introduced 
our first cardiovascular therapy and our scientific efforts to 
understand and treat cardiovascular-related disorders have 
continued, including with our investigational, once-daily oral 
proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor 
in adults with hypercholesterolemia. MSD plans to start a 
Phase 3 pivotal study of the potential treatment in the second 
half of 2023.
Did you know?
Analysis from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation notes a 
growing global disease burden from chronic issues like high cholesterol.
Our R&D expenditure
In 2022, MSD’s R&D spend was $13.5 billion, making us a leader 
in funding R&D within the biopharmaceutical industry.
Importantly, our discoveries often benefit human health over 
the long term, like the steroid dexamethasone, HIV treatment 
raltegravir and antihypertensive losartan, all of which remain 
on the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines List 
decades after their discovery.14
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Availability
At MSD, we believe scientific innovation fuels long-term value 
to society. And to make those innovations as impactful as 
possible, we must also focus on strong commercialization, 
quality manufacturing, and operational excellence in our global 
supply distribution, while reducing our environmental impact. 
Our goal to reach at least 75 percent of countries in the world 
annually with our medicines and vaccines demonstrates 
our commitment to global product availability. In 2022, we 
surpassed our goal for the second consecutive year, reaching 
76 percent of countries around the world with our products.
76%
of countries reached with our 
products in 20224
Maintaining a global supply network 
Through our manufacturing and supply division, we strive to 
maintain a reliable global supply network of the highest quality. 
Our supply chain is designed to operate a lean and efficient 
network that produces our medicines and vaccines to the 
highest quality, safety and environmental standards, in full 
compliance with regulations and current Good Manufacturing 
Practices (cGMPs), as well as industry best practices. 
Through digitally enabled “end-to-end supply planning,” we are 
modernizing our manufacturing operations and conducting 
efficient and balanced planning to maximize business results 
and deliver medicines and vaccines to customers, when and 
where they need them. Our facilities, along with our external 
suppliers and partners, make up an integrated, interdependent 
global manufacturing network.
Increasing diversity of patients in clinical trials
Clinical trials play a critical role in advancing scientific 
innovations. Our Company is determined to expand access 
to trials—including through increased diversity. In 2022, we 
reached more than 85,000 people through our clinical trials in 
more than 60 countries worldwide.
It will take a comprehensive approach to increase the diversity 
of participants in clinical trials, which is why we are tackling 
a variety of associated factors, many in partnership with 
other stakeholders. 
Our team of clinical trial operations experts implements 
best practices in our studies globally. For every late-stage 
trial, we require plans to recruit patients that appropriately 
reflect the diversity of the people who will ultimately take the 
medicines we make. We also prioritize placement of study 
sites in communities with higher populations of individuals 
who have historically been underrepresented in clinical trials. 
In 2022, approximately 50 percent of enrollees were from 
underrepresented groups. 
Partnerships are critical to increasing diversity in clinical 
trials. In 2022, we joined the Novartis-led collaboration 
Beacon of Hope, a 10-year program that establishes clinical 
trial Centers of Excellence at four Historically Black Medical 
Schools to increase diversity among clinical trial investigators 
and participants. We are also a contributor to sponsorships 
to connect with, support and train more clinicians from 
underrepresented groups.
To ease logistical barriers that make it difficult for some patients 
to visit clinical trial sites, we’re working with Greenphire, a 
provider of global financial lifecycle management solutions for 
clinical trials. The organization’s ClinCard debit card provides 
direct stipends and travel reimbursement. In addition, we 
have developed tools to reach study participants within their 
communities, including through local pharmacies and mobile 
study sites. 
 For more information, please see the Discovery & Invention section in 
GRI 203 on pages 54-57.
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Developing new models and business strategies 
to expand access
From digital upgrades to blockchain technology, integrated 
access planning early in the product development cycle and 
planning for new manufacturing models, we are evolving 
systems to ensure broad availability of our medicines and 
vaccines to better meet patient needs. 
Manufacture and supply of vaccines
In the last few years, countries have introduced new 
or expanded routine vaccination programs, creating 
unprecedented increases in the global demand for vaccines. 
To meet this demand, we have increased our capacity and 
supply capability across our vaccines portfolio and are 
committed to continuing to do so.
 For more information, please see the Availability section in GRI 203 
on pages 58-63.
Affordability 
Our purpose to deliver medicines and vaccines to save and 
improve lives is not fulfilled if our inventions cannot reach the 
people who most need them. It’s why we are committed to 
helping shape the health care ecosystem, ensuring people are 
empowered with the options to pursue high-quality, affordable 
medicines and vaccines, in a sustainable way.
Exceeding and expanding our goal to enable access 
to our innovative portfolio
In 2021, we set a goal to use strategies, solutions and 
partnerships to enable 100 million more people to access our 
innovative portfolio globally by 2025.5 In 2022, we were proud 
to exceed this goal, having enabled access for more than 
189 million people. This is why we are taking our goal further, 
increasing it to 350 million people by 2025.
We have made 
more than 
$2 billion 
in capital 
investments 
over the last five years 
to help increase supply 
and extend access to 
our HPV vaccines
“We can never 
rest until a 
way has been 
found to bring 
our finest 
achievements 
to everyone.”
George W. Merck
Based on our 2022 
performance, we are 
increasing our access to 
health goal: We will enable
350 million 
more people 
to access our innovative 
portfolio through dedicated 
access strategies, solutions 
and partnerships, by 2025
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How we enable access 
To advance our goal of enabling more people to access our 
innovative portfolio, we are focusing on building health 
care capacity, strengthening channels for care delivery and 
fostering sustainable financing. 
In building health care capacity, we help to create greater 
efficiency for patients in the health care system through 
collaborations with hospitals and health care networks. 
For example, we work with partners using a data-based 
approach to understand how a patient’s cancer journey can 
be optimized from earlier diagnosis through to treatment. 
We also collaborate with different financial institutions and 
payers, supporting them to expand funding options that help 
patients and their families cope with potentially high out-of-
pocket costs caused by critical illness. 
Through collaborations that reach underserved populations, 
we are working with health care providers and others in the 
digital health and financial sectors to develop solutions that 
enhance disease awareness and health care access. 
In addition, we are committed to engaging with global health 
organizations to improve the resilience of immunization programs 
and to advance equitable access to our vaccines, especially in 
LMICs. For example, through our long-term commitment to Gavi 
and UNICEF, we broaden access to our vaccines to help prevent 
HPV-related cancers and diseases in Gavi-supported countries 
by providing them at an accessible price.
Broadening the reach of our COVID-19 treatments
Access planning is a key part of our research and development 
process. One example is our global, multi-faceted strategy to 
facilitate timely and equitable access to our investigational 
antiviral COVID-19 medicine. This strategy was particularly 
important in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic. 
Our strategy includes advance purchase and supply agreements 
with more than 40 countries; and voluntary license agreements 
with Indian generic manufacturers and the Medicines Patent 
Pool, enabling availability of generic versions of our investigational 
antiviral COVID-19 medicine to more than 100 LMICs. In addition, 
we allocated up to three million courses of therapy to UNICEF for 
LMICs as a “bridge strategy” until the voluntary licensees were 
able to produce supply. 
Thanks to this strategy, more than five million courses of our 
investigational antiviral COVID-19 medicine have been delivered 
to over 20 LMICs through 2022. In addition, MSD’s direct 
supply has treated more than four million patients worldwide 
through 2022. 
 For more information, please see the Affordability section in GRI 203 
on pages 64-69. 
We committed to provide 
over 100 million doses
of our HPV vaccine for use in Gavi-supported countries through 
a long-term agreement with UNICEF from 2021-2025
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A longstanding commitment to product donations
When market-based solutions are inadequate or unavailable, 
we pursue programs to provide direct access to our medicines 
and vaccines, including through product donations. One donation 
program we’re particularly proud of is our longstanding 
MECTIZAN Donation Program (MDP). For more than 35 years, 
the MDP has donated our medicine MECTIZAN for the treatment 
of onchocerciasis (known as river blindness) and, for more than 
25 years, also for the treatment of lymphatic filaraisis. MDP is 
the longest-running disease-specific drug donation program and 
partnership of its kind and is widely regarded as one of the most 
successful public-private health collaborations in the world. 
Our MSD Medical Outreach Program (MMOP) is the primary 
way we donate our medicines and vaccines for global disaster 
relief and humanitarian assistance in LMICs. In 2022, we 
reached more than 118,000 people through the MMOP. 
 For more information on our product donations, please see GRI 203 
on pages 69-72 for more information.
In 2022, we reached 
approximately 
359 million people 
with our MECTIZAN donations
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Making pregnancy and childbirth safer 
Maternal health outcomes can serve to shine a light on the 
strength of a health system. In many countries, inequitable 
maternal health outcomes persist despite having preventable 
causes. MSD for Mothers is our $650 million global initiative to 
create a world where no woman has to die while giving life. For 
more than a decade, the program has brought MSD’s scientific 
and business expertise to help make maternal health outcomes 
more equitable and pregnancy and childbirth safer.
 For more information, please visit the MSD for Mothers website.
Health systems strengthening 
and addressing health equity
To save and improve lives with our medicines and vaccines, we 
recognize we have a role to play to help advance global health, 
and to reduce barriers for underserved populations so that all 
patients have access to high-quality health care. Our focus on 
health equity aligns to our deepest-held Company values. 
In 2022, we invested $38 million in social investments to 
address health equity. Our social investments help advance 
health equity around the world by addressing the barriers that 
many individuals face in seeking and receiving high-quality 
health care. We provide support in several ways, including 
through key initiatives like MSD for Mothers, health equity 
initiatives, and our impact investments. Our Foundation is 
funded entirely by our Company and is our chief source of 
financial support for qualified, eligible nonprofit organizations 
whose programs align with our philanthropic priorities.
In 2021, we set a goal to reach 30 million people with social 
investments for health equity in LMICs and underserved 
populations in the U.S. Through 2022, we exceeded this goal, 
reaching more than 33 million people, including more than 
18 million in 2022 alone. 
To drive continued action, we have increased this health equity 
goal to now reach 50 million people by 2025. We’re now including 
underserved populations in high-income countries beyond the 
U.S. in this goal as our health equity investments evolve to meet 
the needs of underserved populations everywhere.
Based on our 2022 performance, we are increasing 
our health equity goal: By 2025, we aim to reach 
50 million people
in LMICs and underserved populations in high-income 
countries with our social investments
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Addressing cancer care disparities 
Our social investments support multiple programs and 
partnerships to advance more equitable cancer treatment. 
In the U.S., we have supported the American Cancer Society’s 
Get Screened Initiative aimed at reducing disparities in cancer 
screening. These disparities have been exacerbated by the 
COVID-19 pandemic. Also, through the CEO Roundtable on 
Cancer, we support Historically Black Colleges and Universities 
and Hispanic-Serving Institutions in improving health equity, 
education, and access in communities disproportionately 
affected by cancer. 
In addition, through a nearly $2 million grant from our 
Foundation, we support the American Cancer Society in 
establishing patient navigation programs in resource-limited 
settings in sub-Saharan Africa. The output includes a toolkit 
that can help other countries adopt similar programs. 
Investing for impact 
Another way we advance health equity is through impact 
investments, which deploy financial resources to generate 
improved health care access—all while growing a sustainable 
global health ecosystem and attracting additional capital and 
partners. For example, we invest in Mamotest, a company 
in Latin America providing AI-enabled telediagnosis for 
breast cancer. 
 Learn more about our impact investments on our corporate site, 
as well as in GRI 201-1 on page 51.
Harnessing the power of our employees
In 2022, we launched a $1 million Health Equity Catalyst Fund 
for employees to empower our teams to develop solutions that 
promote equitable health outcomes, particularly for underserved 
populations. The fund currently supports 15 community-level 
efforts, initiated by employees, in 13 countries. In addition to 
funding opportunities, we are working across the enterprise 
to better apply social determinants of health information to 
business strategies, and track our progress in reducing barriers 
to access. These efforts serve as a mechanism to engage our 
employees in innovative thinking that reduces inequities, 
advances our goals and extends our corporate purpose to save 
and improve lives. 
 For more information, please see the Strengthening health systems 
and addressing inequity section on pages 73-76.
Our latest alliance for better cancer care
In 2022, we built on the success of our Alliance to Advance 
Patient-Centered Cancer Care with a new U.S.-based initiative—
the Alliance for Equity in Cancer Care. Over the next five years, this 
$20 million commitment from our Foundation will address persistent 
disparities across the cancer care continuum and improve the delivery 
of equitable, culturally responsive care in underserved communities 
in the U.S. 
 For more information on our cancer care initiatives, see GRI 203 on page 74.
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Our best-in-class talent share in our purpose to save and 
improve lives. To hire and retain the best people—those who 
will invent and deliver medicines and vaccines that change the 
world—we must be an employer of choice.
Fostering a culture that is inclusive and supportive is 
fundamental to our talent strategy. Our longstanding 
commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is based on 
our belief that unique, passionate perspectives are critical 
to innovation and in turn, provide a competitive advantage 
for our Company. We also foster a positive working 
environment by providing resources designed to improve 
the well-being of our employees and their families. 
In addition to supporting our talent strategy, we recognize that 
our culture plays a fundamental role in fulfilling our Company's 
purpose. In 2023, we introduced sustainability metrics tied 
to our Access to Health and Employees focus areas in our 
Company Scorecard, which include indicators of the overall 
employee experience. 
Focus area:
Employees
Progress toward our goals
We remain on target with our employee-focused goals, 
including our aim to meet or exceed our inclusion score and 
our employee engagement index score by 2025. We have 
demonstrated progress against our baseline diversity 
measures. We’re delivering on our commitments overall, as 
well as addressing annual fluctuations in senior management 
(vice president/senior vice president) representation to ensure 
we’re well-positioned to meet our multi-year targets.
Along the way, we are building a strong pipeline of talent: 
globally, 52 percent of new hires in 2022 were women and 
in the U.S., 47 percent were members of underrepresented 
groups. We aid our employees’ growth through broad 
leadership development programs as well as through 
affinity-based initiatives that consider our colleagues' 
unique backgrounds.
Attracting and retaining the best talent
One of the primary ways we attract and retain the best talent 
is through training and development. By investing in our 
employees, we also invest in their ability to deliver innovative 
medicines and vaccines for patients. 
Our leadership development programs cut across all levels, 
divisions and geographies of the Company. Some focus 
on business acumen, others on creating positive change. 
For example, our General Management Acceleration Program 
is an application-based, early-talent development initiative that 
grows participants’ business and financial acumen as well as 
their critical thinking abilities.
Our affinity-based development programs for female, LGBTQ+, 
Hispanic/Latino, and Black colleagues build a sense of community 
and aim to increase the number of diverse leaders ready to 
progress in their careers while furthering leadership capabilities 
and business acumen. 
•	 Increase representation in senior management roles,6 by 2024:
•	 Women globally to 40%, up from 31% in 2020
•	 Black/African Americans in the U.S. to 10%, up from 3% in 2020
•	 Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. to 10%, up from 5% in 2020
•	 Maintain or exceed our current inclusion index score, by 20257
•	 Maintain or exceed our current employee engagement index 
score, by 20257
Goals
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Diversity, equity and inclusion 
at the center
Enhancing diversity in MSD’s employee population betters our 
understanding of our customers, promotes the inclusion of 
diverse populations in our clinical trials, and encourages the 
innovation that drives our business. Put simply, diversity and 
inclusion is a business imperative.
Our enterprise-wide Global Diversity & Inclusion (GD&I) 
strategy focuses on the following:
Our People
Strengthen the foundational elements of diversity
Our Culture
Ensure accountability to drive an inclusive culture
Our Business
Continue to leverage diversity and inclusion to ensure 
business value
Our World
Transform the environment, culture and business landscape
Our GD&I strategy also supports the UN Sustainable 
Development Goals (SDGs) to advance gender equality, provide 
fulfilling work and economic growth, reduce inequalities within 
and among countries, and strengthen our global partnerships.
Our enterprise-wide strategy demonstrates our commitment 
to diversity and inclusion as a business priority. It is endorsed 
at the highest levels of the organization, including by the 
CEO and Executive Team. Our Board of Directors also 
has a diversity policy. 
We also have collaborative, cross-functional teams who 
integrate diversity and inclusion (D&I) capabilities into our 
operations, and employees are encouraged to link their annual 
priorities to D&I.
The power of our employees
Our 10 Employee Business Resource Groups (EBRGs) include 
almost 20,000 members. For more than 50 years, we have 
built communities within our Company that foster retention, 
facilitate growth, provide mentorship and strengthen networks. 
They also make direct contributions to our business strategy with 
culturally relevant insights that drive our success and improve our 
decision-making.
Pay equity
We have had a longstanding commitment to fair and equitable 
pay for all employees doing similar work. In 2022, our pay equity 
study achieved nearly worldwide coverage, encompassing 
approximately 90 percent of our global employee population, or 
nearly 60,000 employees. In the U.S., our study showed that we 
have achieved greater than 99 percent pay equity for female and 
male employees, and that we have achieved greater than 99 percent 
pay equity for non-white (including Black, Hispanic and Asian 
employees) and white employees.
 Read more about our efforts toward pay equity in GRI 405 on page 134.
Did you know?
In 2021, we created a global digital accessibility policy to ensure equal 
access across our digital landscape, for stakeholders both internally 
and externally. In 2022, we strengthened our support for digital 
accessibility with a five-year roadmap to ensure we have a universal 
design standard for our facilities around the world. These guidelines 
reflect designing for accessibility, usability and inclusion, and go 
beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act. 
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Building a pipeline of diverse talent
Skills-first is a paradigm shift happening throughout our 
Company in how we attract, develop and advance talent. 
For appropriate roles, the new approach increases the focus 
on skills instead of a four-year degree, creating equitable access 
to meaningful career opportunities for diverse candidates.
In 2022, our Company posted approximately 900 roles without 
a four-year degree requirement. That’s twice as many as the 
year before. Key partners in our efforts include: 
•	 OneTen, a coalition of leading companies helping to close 
the opportunity gap for Black talent in the U.S. 
•	 Year Up, a nonprofit that offers economically disadvantaged 
youth six months of training followed by a six-month 
corporate internship 
Our Company was proud to host approximately 90 Year Up 
interns in 2022, with plans to expand the partnership further 
for 2023. We also launched our debut Skills-First apprenticeship 
program with over 30 apprentices in digital marketing, data 
analytics and information technology. 
Valuing the well-being of our employees
As an innovation-based company, the expertise and engagement 
of our employees is critical to our business. We cannot be successful 
unless we prioritize employees' health, well-being and safety. 
We provide benefits covering employees’ physical and mental 
health, including a wide range of programs, resources, and tools 
to help them make healthy choices and live better lives. 
We conduct our Employee Pulse surveys multiple times a year 
to measure colleagues’ perception on inclusion and other critical 
workforce issues.
 See our Well-being Report on our corporate website for more on 
our commitment.
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Extending our diversity commitment 
to suppliers
We are proud to be a leader in supplier diversity, in both 
their hiring and development.
In 2022, our spend with minority-, women-, veteran-, 
LGBTQ+- and disability-owned business enterprises 
represented 14 percent of our total procurement spend.
$3.2 billion
in spending with diverse Tier 1 and 2 suppliers globally
Dedicated to a safe and 
healthy workplace
We are focused on providing a safe and healthy workplace. 
All employees, service providers and Company-managed 
contractors must follow our safety standards. In addition, 
we have comprehensive programs focused on reducing risks, 
work-related injuries and illnesses, and other safety incidents. 
Our active Employee Safety Committees are an example of 
how we engage employees in these efforts and partner to 
proactively maintain a safe and healthy working environment.
 For more information on safety, please see GRI 403 on pages 119-129.
Recognition as a great place to work
We are proud of the many external awards that recognize our 
Company as a great place to work, both for employees generally and 
for specific affinity groups. In 2022, we were recognized as a great 
place to work for LGBTQ+ employees, women, veterans and Latinos, 
among others.
We actively support the small and diverse businesses we work 
with. Our Advanced Leadership Program for Diverse Suppliers 
provides development opportunities for business owners 
of diverse backgrounds with a focus on leadership skills and 
business acumen. In 2022, we had 15 diverse suppliers graduate 
from the second cohort of the program.
In addition to ensuring we have diversity among our suppliers, 
we also monitor our large Tier 1 suppliers to make certain 
they, in turn, use diverse suppliers, extending our community 
impact. In 2022, 21 Tier 1 suppliers participated in our Second 
Tier program, generating an impact of over $258 million 
through their inclusion and utilization of diverse suppliers 
for direct purchases on behalf of our Company.
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Our purpose to save and improve lives is inextricably linked to 
fostering a healthy planet. It’s why our commitment to enabling 
a safe, sustainable and healthy future is embedded within our 
strategic framework. And it’s why we continuously build on our 
long history of environmental stewardship and compliance, 
evolving our efforts in the face of a changing world.
Our environmental strategy 
and commitments
Our environmental sustainability strategy has three focus areas:
•	 Driving operational efficiency
•	 Designing new products to minimize environmental impact
•	 Reducing any impacts in our upstream and downstream 
value chain
Focus area:
Environmental Sustainability
Our approach to climate change
Scientific data supports that climate change is occurring, and 
we are taking action to reduce the economic and public health 
risks associated with a changing climate.
We have adopted a set of climate goals to help position our 
Company to succeed in an increasingly resource-constrained 
world. These goals were developed to align with the latest 
climate science and address the rising expectations of our 
customers, investors, external stakeholders and employees 
regarding the environmental impact of our operations and 
supply chain.
Our Company has also committed to the Science Based Targets 
initiative (SBTi) to set a net-zero target for our greenhouse gas 
(GHG) emissions across our global operations (Scopes 1, 2, 3). 
Environmental, Health and Safety 
(EHS) governance 
We ensure our ongoing commitment to these areas through 
thoughtful governance. Our Environmental, Health and Safety 
(EHS) Council is a cross-functional body with leadership 
representation from each area of our business. As sponsors to 
our sustainability strategy, policy and business risk mitigation 
controls, the Council monitors performance on our targets, 
while also increasing visibility and transparency internally to 
the business, Executive Team and the Board of Directors.
 For more information, please refer to the Environmental Health 
and Safety Management and Governance document located on 
the Sustainability Resources page on our corporate website.
•	 Reduce our operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 
(i.e., Scopes 1 & 2) 46% by 2030, from a 2019 baseline8
•	 Achieve carbon neutrality across our operations by 2025
(Scopes 1 & 2 emissions)8
•	 Source 100% of our purchased electricity from renewable sources 
by 20259
•	 Reduce our value chain (Scope 3) GHG emissions 30% by 2030, 
from a 2019 baseline10
Goals
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Realizing the benefits of green chemistry
Meeting our environmental sustainability goals is intrinsically 
linked to the creation of innovative, cost-efficient manufacturing 
processes with low environmental impact. We see transformative 
science/engineering and innovation as critical enablers to 
developing sustainable, low-cost manufacturing processes that 
provide environmental and economic benefits over the life cycle 
of our products.
Our aim is to develop the most efficient and sustainable processes 
at product launch, with the goal of minimizing material use 
and waste from our commercial manufacturing. Our Company 
utilizes an innovative “green-by-design” development strategy 
to progress from an initial early clinical supply route to a fully 
optimized and sustainable commercial manufacturing process.
Playbooks for a sustainable environment
Our local sites are crucial to achieving our ambitious environmental 
sustainability goals, and we continue to launch tools to assist them, 
particularly for our climate and waste targets. 
In 2021, we launched our Low Carbon Transition Playbook (LCTP), 
a common platform that includes a gap assessment to help our 
global sites evaluate the maturity of their energy programs and help 
create short- and long-term plans to reduce sites' carbon intensity 
and build toward a low-carbon future. Based on learnings from use, 
LCTP 2.0 was issued in 2022 with a capability to facilitate knowledge 
sharing across sites.
Thanks to the success of the LCTP, we took a similar approach for 
waste diversion. In 2022, we created the Waste Diversion Playbook 
to guide sites on developing a roadmap to our shared 2025 goals, 
including local waste-diversion strategies and environmentally 
responsible procurement practices.
These tools aid in the reporting and tracking of projects that support 
achievements towards meeting our corporate targets.
Did you know?
Since the establishment of the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards 
by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American 
Chemistry Society (ACS) in 1996, we have been recognized with 
nine Green Chemistry Awards for innovative process improvements, 
with six of those consecutively since 2017.
For the third year in a row, we were proud recipients of the 
Peter J. Dunn Award for Green Chemistry and Engineering 
Impact, an award given by the American Chemical Society in 
recognition of outstanding implementation of novel green 
chemistry in the pharmaceutical industry. The team earning 
this 2022 award reduced an 11-step synthesis for a product to 
just two steps, replacing toxic solvents with biorenewable ones.
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Waste diversion
We continuously evaluate our sites’ waste disposal methods 
to gain a better understanding of our network and changes 
therein, as well as to identify risks and opportunities in 
our value chain. Based on our evaluation, we implemented 
programs resulting in diversion of 60 percent of landfill waste 
from our highest landfill-generating sites.
We are currently meeting our 2025 public waste diversion goal 
with 16 percent of total operational waste being sent to landfill 
or incineration without energy recovery, and we will continue 
to strive to improve our waste minimization, recycling and 
diversion efforts.
Water as a shared resource
Access to clean water is critical for human health. As water is 
a key input to our manufacturing operations, we assess water 
risk throughout our network as a standard business practice. 
Both of our priority water-stress risk sites have conservation 
plans in place and are actively working on water use reduction 
and recycling improvement projects. 
In 2022, we achieved a 17 percent reduction in our water use 
compared to our 2015 baseline. This reduction is consistent 
with our ongoing commitment to achieving our stated 
target: by 2025, we will maintain global water use at or below 
2015 levels. Our sites are employing various technologies 
and techniques aimed at reducing our water footprint and 
improving operational performance.
Our continued endorsement of the UN CEO Water Mandate 
enables continued alignment of our water program with its 
principles directly in our operations. We continued to identify 
partnerships that will help us advance our water stewardship 
priorities in the areas in which we operate.
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Our stakeholders trust us to do the right thing, and it is 
imperative we uphold that trust. That means operating 
responsibly to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future 
for people and communities everywhere, and to always put 
patients first. Our strong commitment to ethics and integrity 
is the bedrock of our Company and enables us to fulfill 
our purpose.
Our policies and procedures reinforce that commitment, 
from how we conduct research and development, to 
the management of our supply chain, to available and 
affordable products.
In addition, our workforce is united by four key values that 
represent who we are and how we work together as a Company:
•	 Patients first
•	 Respect for people
•	 Ethics and integrity
•	 Innovation and scientific excellence
Focus area:
Ethics & Values
Fostering a Speak Up culture
Our Company communicates regularly with employees to 
encourage a speak-up culture and to ensure they understand 
how to report potential concerns.
We invest in Our Code of Conduct—available in 21 languages—
which outlines our ethical expectations for employees and 
for our Company. Our Office of Ethics ensures employees 
understand the Code of Conduct, Our Values and Standards, 
and corporate policies that address our ethics and compliance. 
Our Business Partner Code of Conduct reflects similar and 
consistent principles for our business partners.
The Office of Ethics oversees our global Speak Up program 
and the third-party MSDethics.com tool for reporting ethics 
concerns 24/7. Employees and suppliers can anonymously 
(where permitted by law) raise concerns or ask questions at 
MSDethics.com. The reporting tool is available via phone or 
online, and in employees’ preferred languages. 
•	 Foster a “Speak Up” culture by maintaining or exceeding 
our current percentage of employees responding favorably 
to the “Willingness to report” question in the Pulse survey 
as an annual average11,12
•	 Maintain 100% compliance to regulatory requirements for 
active incident monitoring, risk/harm analysis and on-time 
notification of data breaches13
Goals
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MSD Impact Report 2022/2023
Overview

Sustaining trust within our teams
In 2019, we introduced an industry-leading program to build 
trust between employees and management and to promote our 
speak-up culture through the use of listening circles facilitated 
by regional ethics officers. Today, the Ethics and Integrity 
Culture Building Assessment and Listening Program continues 
to empower employees to share their views on the Company's 
speak-up culture. Managers gain perspective on the strengths 
and opportunities for their teams' cultures, and action plans 
help to address what’s learned. 
In 2022, the program was rolled out in two markets, Japan 
and Brazil. It is expanding to additional markets in 2023 as 
we continue to invest in our ethical culture and our people. 
Our commitment to human rights
Our respect for human rights extends to our suppliers, all 
of whom must follow our Business Partner Code of Conduct. 
We are also committed to the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain 
Initiative (PSCI) Principles. In addition, to manage potential 
risks associated with third-party business relationships, our 
Global Supplier Management Group (GSMG) uses a third-
party risk management committee and program to evaluate 
risks for Labor and Human Rights (LHR) in our supply chain. 
Our sourcing professionals also receive appropriate training 
on evaluating partners for these risks.
We investigate any concerns quickly, and regularly conduct 
due diligence on our suppliers, including audits to verify they 
uphold LHR standards. Where we find issues, they are held 
accountable for addressing them. We also ask suppliers to 
support initiatives like the PSCI Human Rights. 
 Learn more about our approach to human rights in GRI 412 
on pages 143-144.
 Learn more about our approach to a more ethical supply chain 
in GRI 414 on pages 145-147.
Recognition for our transparency
The Company’s integrity extends to our political giving, where we 
carefully make bipartisan contributions on a case-by-case basis in 
support of policies that enhance innovation and patient access to 
health care. 
For the last six years, the University of Pennsylvania Wharton 
School's Center for Political Accountability at the Zicklin Center 
for Business Ethics and Research has named us a “Trendsetter” 
in their annual CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure 
and Accountability report, demonstrating our commitment 
to transparency around our political giving. 
 All of our contributions can be found on the Transparency Disclosures page 
of our corporate website.
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Economic
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Overview

References
1	 This people reached metric estimates the number of people who have received an MSD product through 
commercial, clinical trials, voluntary licensing and donations channels. Donations include people reached 
with products through the MECTIZAN Donation Program, U.S. Patient Assistance Programs, and the MSD 
Medical Outreach Program. Sources of data are MSD and third-party data sets that are tracked within an 
enterprise-wide internal database. The people reached metric for all sources is calculated as doses sold 
divided by the average dose schedule for a given market in a given year. People taking multiple products 
may be counted as multiple people towards the total estimate. In some instances, this estimate may include 
people enabled to access our products through access strategies, solutions and partnerships, which are 
calculated as part of our goal to enable access to our innovative portfolio (page 10). The people reached 
metric does not include people reached through social investments, which are calculated as part of our goal 
to further advance health equity for underserved populations (page 10).
2	 Social investments include our Company's philanthropic partnerships, programs and impact investments. 
Underserved populations are defined as those that face health disparities due to disadvantages related to 
insurance status, social determinants of health, race, ethnicity, gender identity/sexual orientation, age and/
or language preference. The goal is cumulative across the reporting period of 2021-2025, and is independent 
of a baseline period.
3	 Third-party reporting is used to calculate the number of people reached through our social investments. 
In some cases, third-party reports may include cumulative people reached for the reporting period, and/or 
data that is attributable to other partners as well as our Company's philanthropic investment.
4	 Countries are as defined by the World Bank Country and Lending Groups. Includes only human health products.
5	 Metrics contributing to this goal are displayed on an annual basis and provide information on the number 
of people who now have the option to access medicines and vaccines as a result of our sustainable access 
strategies, solutions and partnerships, including our commitment to Gavi and UNICEF (rather than doses 
shipped), collaborations to optimize resources in health systems, expanded financial coverage through 
insurance, and new community-based channel partnerships in LMICs. “Innovative portfolio” of products 
refers to our Company’s on-patent products. “Enable more people” is defined as implemented and launched 
in market and will be in comparison to the baseline (2020) as of 2025. Evidence for metrics are sourced 
from the best publicly available data and proxy sources by market. While proxies differ by market, all 
methodologies are evaluated and represent the best estimate of people enabled to access our innovative 
portfolio through access strategies, solutions and partnerships (see page 19 for additional information). 
People who were enabled to access innovative medicines and vaccines did not necessarily receive such 
innovative medicines and vaccines.
6	 “Senior management roles” are defined as individuals holding either vice president or senior vice president titles.
7	 In 2022, we revised employee survey measurements to align with evolving best practices. In this report, 
2022 data is used as the baseline for future comparison.
8	 Scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources such as on-
site fuel combustion and fleet vehicles. Scope 2 GHG emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of 
purchased energy consumed by the reporting company.
9	 We have defined “purchased electricity” as electricity sourced from external suppliers as well as renewable 
electricity that was generated and utilized onsite where we retained the renewable attributes or where we 
have obtained renewable attributes through contract.
10	Scope 3 GHG emissions include all other indirect emissions in a company’s value chain. 
11	Favorable response indicates the percentage of respondents who respond “yes” to the question stating, 
“I am willing to report employee misconduct and potential ethics or compliance issues.”
12	In 2021, we developed the “Willingness to Report” question referenced in footnote 11 to align with evolving 
best practices. This question was first included in the Pulse survey in March 2022, and 2022 data will be used 
as the baseline for future comparison.
13	Regulatory requirements differ by region.
14	Products we no longer market are not included in the total number of Global Burdens of Disease we seek to 
address through our pipeline and products.
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GRI/SASB 
disclosures
33
Overview
General disclosures
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MSD Impact Report 2022/2023
GRI/SASB:

We are a global health care company that delivers innovative health solutions 
through our prescription medicines, including biologic therapies, vaccines 
and animal health products. In the U.S. and Canada, we are known as Merck 
& Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA. Outside of the U.S. and Canada, we are known 
as MSD.
> For more information on our locations and ownership, please see our 2022 Form 10-K 
(pages 24, 39 and 41).
Organizational details
GRI 2-1	
Entities included in the organization’s 
sustainability reporting
GRI 2-2	
Reporting period, frequency and contact point
GRI 2-3	
General 
disclosures
All of our Company’s global operations, including those of subsidiaries, are in 
scope for this report unless stated otherwise. This report includes activities 
at all facilities, owned and leased, over which we have operational control, 
unless otherwise noted.
The basis for reporting on other matters specific to the operations of our 
business can be found in our 2022 Form 10-K.
Except as otherwise noted, we report on our policies, initiatives and 
performance annually. The data in this report covers the same period as 
our annual financial reporting, from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. 
In some cases, the narrative in the report also includes content regarding 
decisions and initiatives that took place in the first half of 2023.
Our last report was published in August 2022. 
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General disclosures

ERM CVS provided limited assurance of select 2022 greenhouse gas and 
water data included in this report and submitted to CDP. To view the ERM 
CVS limited assurance statement for our environmental data, please visit 
the Sustainability Resources page of our corporate website. The limited 
assurance engagement was performed in accordance with the International 
Standard on Assurance Engagements ISAE 3000. We did not obtain external 
verification for this Impact Report in its entirety.
We welcome your feedback on this report as well as any other comments 
or questions you may have. You may contact us at the address, email, phone 
number or web address below.
Merck & Co., Inc.
ESG Strategy & Engagement
126 East Lincoln Avenue
P.O. Box 2000
Rahway, NJ 07065 USA
investor_relations@msd.com
908-740-4000
msd.com/contact-us/
Our Company is committed to the highest ethical standards to help maximize 
the long-term sustainability of our business, and of the communities in which 
we operate. We strive to conduct business with third parties that share 
our commitment to high ethical standards and operate in a responsible and 
ethical manner. The term “third party” is broadly interpreted to include any 
individual or entity that provides any type of goods or services in support of 
our sourcing initiatives.
We expect all third parties with whom we engage to comply with all 
applicable regulations, as well as share in our commitment to the principles 
outlined in our Business Partner Code of Conduct.
We manufacture, package and distribute products to many markets around 
the world. We have established business relationships with thousands 
of suppliers, including direct suppliers (including external manufacturing 
providers), capital expenditure suppliers, indirect suppliers and research 
providers. Our direct suppliers provide us with goods such as packaging, 
components and ingredients. Capital expenditure suppliers provide goods 
and services such as engineering and construction. Our indirect suppliers 
include those that provide services such as logistics, travel and meetings, 
facility management, and marketing. Our research providers include lab 
supplies and other research and development-related services.
Restatements of information
GRI 2-4	
Any restatements of information from prior reports, and the reasons for 
these restatements, are described in the footnotes beneath the performance 
data tables.
External assurance
GRI 2-5	
Activities, value chain and other business relationships 
GRI 2-6	
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GRI 2-3

Third-Party Risk Management team
To help manage and address potential areas of risk associated with 
third-party business relationships, we have an established Third-Party 
Risk Management program and committee chaired by the senior vice 
president for Global Procurement. The committee establishes, implements 
and monitors environmentally sustainable, socially responsible and ethical 
sourcing practices to ensure that performance is aligned with our purpose. 
In 2022, cross-functional leaders sponsored an enterprise-wide program 
to streamline our third-party due-diligence process, leveraging one IT 
platform to launch assessments, and to review and mitigate risks from 
Compliance, Global Safety and the Environment, Information Technology 
Risk Management & Security, Pharmacovigilance and Global Security.
Supplier selection and setting expectations
We select suppliers that share our commitment to our values and principles. 
We expect appropriate standards of conduct and respect for human rights 
from our suppliers, contractors, vendors and external partners, consistent 
with our own. We use our Business Partner Code of Conduct to communicate 
our expectations for Human Rights, Labor & Employment, Health, Safety 
& Environment, and Ethical Business Practices. Our Business Partner 
Code of Conduct, along with our Supplier Performance Expectations, are 
communicated to existing and potential third parties. They are included in 
requests for information, proposals and quotes, as well as in our purchase 
order terms and conditions. We make our Business Partner Code of Conduct 
available in 26 languages.
Our Business Partner Code of Conduct references the Pharmaceutical Supply 
Chain Initiative (PSCI) Principles for Responsible Supply Chain Management 
(the Principles). PSCI is a group of more than 50 pharmaceutical and health 
care companies which promotes sustainable sourcing and better business 
conditions across the industry, and the Principles set the standard for human 
rights, ethics, labor, health and safety, environment and related management 
systems. We are an active member of PSCI. The member companies share 
a vision of better social, health, safety and environmental outcomes in the 
communities where we buy.
Our approach to sustainable sourcing
We have a sourcing management process in which environmental 
sustainability, social responsibility, and economic inclusion and supplier 
diversity principles are integrated in each stage. Throughout the supplier life 
cycle, our Company establishes expectations, assesses risk, supports supplier 
development and manages performance.
Our Global Supplier Management Group (GSMG) is responsible for driving our 
Sustainable Sourcing program and maintaining the associated standards and 
processes by which suppliers are identified, qualified and managed.
Our Sustainable Sourcing program has the following key elements:
•	 Integration into our Global Sourcing & Procurement Strategy and processes
•	 A cross-functional team that oversees program development and the 
processes and guidelines to encourage best practices, prevent violations 
of supply chain standards and limit risk
•	 Established sustainability requirements that are communicated to our 
suppliers and included in supplier selection
•	 Review, tracking and communication of supplier sustainability programs
•	 Collaboration as we educate and learn from our supply chain, peer 
companies and best-in-class organizations
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GRI 2-6

Supplier due diligence assessments
We have a defined risk-management process, and our supply base is 
measured against the process criteria. Using a risk-based approach, 
supplier assessments and audits are conducted based on multiple 
factors (e.g., risk profile, engagement and activity type, geography). 
The assessments and audits evaluate a supplier’s ability to meet both 
industry and our own standards for quality, safety and ethical business 
practices. Results are reviewed with senior management across 
the Company.
Our due diligence includes:
•	 Anti-bribery and corruption
•	 Conflict minerals
•	 Denied-party screening
•	 Ethics and compliance
•	 Financial solvency
•	 Information security and cybersecurity
•	 Intellectual property
•	 Labor and human rights
•	 Privacy (data protection)
•	 Supply-chain security
Where assessments and audits identify deficiencies or opportunities 
for improvement, we monitor suppliers to ensure that our concerns are 
addressed in a responsible and compliant manner. As part of our oversight 
and monitoring, we have established mechanisms to report, track and 
monitor supplier plans to address nonconformance and help drive continued 
improvement. Additional review(s) are performed for external manufacturing 
suppliers and suppliers that manage personal and private information.
Protecting the privacy of personal information
Some of our suppliers, such as contract research organizations, market 
research agencies, information technology systems developers, corporate 
card suppliers, and travel and meeting agencies process personal information 
in connection with their performance of services for our Company. We require 
these suppliers to provide appropriate privacy protection for personal 
information that they handle in accordance with our privacy policies and 
applicable privacy laws, regulations and guidelines.
> See more about our privacy program in GRI 418 on page 156.
Training
We understand the importance of training, and continue to develop 
numerous training events that are assigned to employees and provided 
to industry peers and suppliers. Most of our internal classes are assigned 
through our centralized learning system. In addition to providing training 
through our internal systems, we also work with PSCI to develop and provide 
training to our suppliers and peers.
> Additional details regarding our supplier-focused programs can be found in 
GRI 204 on page 77, GRI 308 on page 112 and GRI 414 on page 145.
Assessing the effectiveness of our program
During 2022, we reviewed the following metrics to help us assess the 
effectiveness of our efforts in our business and supply chain. We use these 
measures to monitor our performance and identify opportunities to help 
improve our programs.
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GRI 2-6

Supply chain
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Employees trained on updated Business Partner Code of Conduct 
(Edition II)1
148
190
183
137
173
Employees trained on Third-Party Risk Management1,2
N/A
N/A
185
997
126
Supplier Self-Assessments3
595
706
547
127
103
Supplier Labor and Human Rights (LHR) audits conducted4
104
39
47
10
12
Supplier Labor and Human Rights (LHR) audit Corrective Actions 
and Preventive Actions (CAPA) closed5
100%
100%
100%
100%
52%
Supplier personnel trained in ESG6
N/A
N/A
1,492
1,856
2,471
N/A: Not available.
1 Primary target: Procurement and business development staff with responsibility for supplier management.
2 Formal training was created and rolled out in late 2020 and is provided to all new relevant hires going forward. Prior to 2020, informal training was provided on an as-needed basis.
3 Undertaken as part of initial supplier due diligence, managed and overseen by GSMG; scope includes labor and human rights, environment and safety, and ethical business practices. Decrease in number of assessments was 
due to the change in criteria in late 2020 for when a Supplier Self-Assessment is required using a risk-based approach.
4 Announced on-site audits, independently performed by third-party audit firms; primary focus on direct material (Tier 1) supplier facilities located in certain high-risk countries.
5 Monitoring closure Corrective Actions and Preventive Actions (CAPA) for past audit observations revealed by supplier LHR audits. Not all CAPA plans are due within the same year. All CAPAs from previous reporting periods 
have been closed. For the current reporting period, the CAPA closed percentage is as of April 10, 2023; open CAPAs are being monitored for closure.
6 Formal training was created and conducted as joint effort with PSCI for responsible sourcing, environmental, and human rights and labor topics.
> You can find a list of our products and an update on our pipeline on our 
corporate website.
> For more information on our sector, business relationships, financials, operations and 
organization changes, please see our 2022 Form 10-K, pages 1-24 and 71-129.
38
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GRI 2-6

Workers who are not employees
GRI 2-8	
Employees
GRI 2-7	
Employees
As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately 69,000 employees 
worldwide. This includes approximately 27,000 employed in the U.S., 
excluding Puerto Rico, and approximately 15,000 third-party contractors 
globally. Third-party contractors include the Company’s temporary 
workers, independent contractors and freelancers who are viewed as 
full-time equivalent employees. They exclude outsourced service providers. 
Approximately 67,000 employees are full-time. 
U.S.
27,256 | 39%
Latin America
4,554 | 7%
Europe (Western)
18,642 | 27% 
Canada
610 | 1%
Japan
3,131 | 5%
Asia-Pacific
6,016 | 9%
China
6,541 | 9%
Eastern Europe, Middle East 
and Africa (EEMEA)
2,285 | 3%
Employees by region (2022)
Number of 
employees1
Worldwide
percentage
1	Full-time equivalents reported.
39
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Role of the highest governance body in 
sustainability reporting
GRI 2-14	
Delegation of responsibility for managing impacts
GRI 2-13	
Role of the highest governance body in overseeing the 
management of impacts
GRI 2-12	
Chair of the highest governance body
GRI 2-11	
Nomination and selection of the highest governance body
GRI 2-10	
Governance structure and composition
GRI 2-9	
Board of Directors
Our 2023 proxy statement (pages 8-14, 18-26, 32-39, and 112) includes 
information on our Board nomination process and the Board's roles and 
responsibilities for the management of and reporting on sustainability 
topics at the Company.
We are committed to governance policies and practices that serve the 
interests of the Company and its shareholders. Our governance structure 
is an integral part of this commitment. Our Executive Team (ET) and senior 
management are responsible for reviewing, refining and implementing our 
Company’s long-term sustainability strategy. Through groups such as the 
Policy and ESG Council, senior leaders from across the Company direct the 
day-to-day supervision of our efforts supporting this strategy. 
Our ET updates the Board on our long-term sustainability strategy and 
performance as part of the Board’s annual strategic planning meeting. 
Discussions and updates also occur at the Board and its Committees on 
specific topics. For example, the Board's Governance Committee, which 
monitors and assists the Board in its oversight of sustainability matters, 
ensures that relevant issues are subject to review by Board committees 
with relevant areas of competency. 
Management
The groups below are responsible for directing the day-to-day supervision 
of the Company’s sustainability strategy and driving performance:
Policy and ESG Council (PEC)
The PEC, under the guidance of the Executive Team, serves to ensure the 
Company is advancing its strategic framework through public policy and 
sustainability efforts that proactively shape and respond to the changing 
landscape in which the business operates. This group of cross-functional 
senior leaders recommends positions for decision to the Executive Team 
on critical public policy and sustainability issues, and monitors related 
performance across regions and functions and resources allocated to meet 
goals and objectives.
ESG Strategy Management Team (ESMT)
With guidance from the PEC, the ESMT advises, shapes and drives 
the Company’s long-term sustainability strategy, including providing 
recommendations regarding risks and opportunities to the Company. 
The role of ESMT is to create long-term value, differentiate our Company 
as a leader in sustainability, and answer to stakeholder demands about 
key issues across our four focus areas: Access to Health, Employees, 
Environmental Sustainability, and Ethics & Values. The ESMT works to 
ensure that our sustainability strategy and priorities are aligned with and 
support our corporate strategic framework, in order to meet the Company’s 
public commitments and expectations of our stakeholders.
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General disclosures

Corporate governance
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Independent directors on the Board
11
12
12
12
12
Board members who are independent
92%
92%
92%
86%
92%
Separate chairman of the Board and CEO1
No
No
No
Yes
No
Lead independent director
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Women on the Board
33%
46%
46%
43%
46%
Members of underrepresented ethnic groups on the Board
17%
23%
31%
21%
15%
Note: Except as otherwise noted, all figures above are derived from our proxy statement filed the following year and are rounded. 
1 From July 1, 2021 to November 30, 2022, the positions of Board chairman and CEO were separate. As of December 1, 2022, the positions of Board chairman and CEO are not separate.
> For information on communicating with the Board, please see our 
2023 proxy statement (page 26).
Conflicts of interest
GRI 2-15	
> Information on our Board's Conflict of Interest policy can be found in our 
Policies of the Board in Section 13 (pages 8-9).
Communication of critical concerns
GRI 2-16	
> For information on communicating to the Board, as well as topics discussed with 
shareholders, please visit our 2023 proxy statement (pages 25-26).
ESG Strategy & Engagement Team
The team is responsible for raising the visibility of sustainability issues and 
activities across the Company, and fostering connections across business 
units and functional areas to assist with the integration of sustainability 
principles into business policies, strategies and practices. This includes 
producing the Company's annual Impact Report.
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GRI 2-9 | GRI 2-10 | GRI 2-11 | GRI 2-12 | GRI 2-13 | GRI 2-14

Evaluation of the performance of the highest 
governance body
GRI 2-18	
Process to determine remuneration
GRI 2-20	
Collective knowledge of the highest governance body
GRI 2-17	
> Information on our Board’s and its Committees’ responsibilities, including with 
respect to sustainability matters, as well as information on our Board's and its 
Committees' self-evaluations can be found in our 2023 proxy statement (pages 14, 
15-24) and in the Policies of the Board and the Committees’ charters, which are 
available on our corporate website.
Remuneration policies
GRI 2-19	
> A full discussion of our remuneration policies for our Board and for Named Executive 
Officers (NEOs) can be found in our 2023 proxy statement (pages 40-85).
> For information on how our Company's performance against certain sustainability 
metrics will be linked to compensation for employees eligible for our Annual Incentive 
Plan in 2023, please see page 59 of our 2023 proxy statement. 
> A full discussion of our approach to remuneration for our Board and for Named 
Executive Officers (NEOs) can be found on pages 40-85 of our 2023 proxy statement.
> To learn more about the non-binding advisory vote to approve the compensation 
of our NEOs, please see our Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange 
Commission on May 26 2023, a copy of which is available on our corporate website. 
Annual total compensation ratio
GRI 2-21	
> For more information on the CEO pay ratio, and methodology for determining this 
ratio, please see page 65 of our 2023 proxy statement.
Statement on sustainable development strategy
GRI 2-22	
> Please see the letter from our Chairman and CEO on pages 3-4.
Below are select examples of external charters, principles and initiatives that 
guide our work in our four focus areas, or that we have endorsed.
Access to Health
•	 AMR Industry Alliance: Common Antibiotic Manufacturing Framework
•	 AMR Industry Alliance: Industry Roadmap for Progress on Combating AMR
•	 Health for Animals: Antibiotics Commitment
•	 Declaration of Helsinki (For more information, see our Access to Health 
Statement of Guiding Principles) 
•	 International Council for Harmonisation: Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) 
•	 International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations 
(IFPMA) Code of Practice
•	 Kigali Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases
•	 U.S. National Academy of Sciences: Guidelines for Human Embryonic 
Stem Cell Research
> For more information on our approach to access, please see GRI 203 on pages 54-76. 
For more information on MSD Animal Health, please visit our Animal Health website.
Code of ethics governing interactions with health 
care professionals
SASB 510a.2	
Embedding policy commitments
GRI 2-24	
Policy commitments
GRI 2-23	
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•	 International Labor Organization core labor standards
•	 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Guidelines for 
Multinational Enterprises
•	 Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI) Principles for Responsible 
Supply Chain Management
•	 PhRMA Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals
•	 Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact
•	 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Right
•	 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
> For more information on our approach to ethics and values, please see GRI 205 
on page 81, GRI 206 on page 82, GRI 412 on page 143 and GRI 418 on page 156. 
For more information on our supply chain, please see GRI 2-6 on page 35, GRI 204 
on page 77 and GRI 308 on page 112.
> For links to our corporate policies, please visit the Policies & Positions page on our 
corporate website.
Employees
•	 CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion
•	 International Labour Office (ILO) Code of Practice on Recording and 
Notification of Occupational Accidents and Diseases
•	 OneTen Initiative
•	 Paradigm for Parity
•	 United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles
> For more information on our employees, please see GRI 401 to GRI 405 on 
pages 114-142.
Environmental Sustainability
•	 American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Green Chemistry Initiative
•	 Eco-Pharmaco-Stewardship (EPS) initiative
•	 Paris Climate Agreement
•	 Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
•	 UN CEO Water Mandate
•	 We Mean Business Coalition
•	 Conference Board: Product Stewardship & Regulatory Affairs Council
•	 ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable (ACS GCIPR)
> For more information on our approach to environmental sustainability, please see 
GRI 301 to GRI 308 on pages 84-113.
Ethics & Values
•	 European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations 
(EFPIA) Code of Practice
•	 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
•	 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
•	 International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations 
(IFPMA) Code of Practice
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GRI 2-23 | GRI 2-24 | SASB 510a.2

Precautionary principle 
We take a precautionary approach when evaluating potential human 
exposures and environmental impacts resulting from our manufacturing 
processes. Conservative assumptions are made when data is limited, 
and safety factors are added to address uncertainty and variability in our 
assessments. This type of approach is particularly relevant to our work in 
toxicology, industrial hygiene, biosafety and environmental protection.
Employees are encouraged, prepared and empowered to raise their concerns 
to their management, Human Resources, Legal, Compliance or the Office 
of Ethics.
The Office of Ethics maintains a global Speak Up program and the 
MSDethics.com reporting tool. The reporting tool is operated by an 
independent third party and is available 24/7. MSDethics.com allows 
employees and suppliers to raise concerns or ask questions confidentially 
and anonymously (where permitted by law) in their preferred language via 
phone or online. The Company communicates regularly with employees to 
encourage and foster a Speak Up culture and ensure that they understand 
how they can report potential misconduct or concerns.
Mechanisms for seeking advice and raising concerns
GRI 2-26	
Processes to remediate negative impacts
GRI 2-25	
Our Company’s Office of Ethics is responsible for ensuring that employees 
are aware of and trained on the Code of Conduct and corporate policies 
addressing ethics and compliance.
Our Code of Conduct is available in 21 languages and applies to all employees 
worldwide. Corporate policies are reviewed every three years by business-
content owners and updated as needed. We abide by strict ethical standards 
in our own operations and, to the extent possible, we insist on equivalent 
standards from our suppliers. Our Business Partner Code of Conduct reflects 
similar and consistent principles for our business partners.
The Office of Ethics also serves as a channel for the receipt, triaging and 
redress of ethics- and compliance-related concerns. Depending on the 
concern type, the concerns will be investigated by the Office of Ethics, 
the Office of General Counsel, Global Security or Human Resources. 
Code of Conduct
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Employees trained on the Ethics & Compliance training series
99%
99%
>99%
>99%
>99%
In alignment with our priority to protect and enhance our Company’s 
reputation through safe, ethical and compliant behaviors, and to foster a 
strong culture of ethics and compliance, regional ethics officers manage 
a network of site-based volunteer ethics ambassadors outside of the U.S. 
These ethics ambassadors are trained to answer employee questions about 
the Company’s reporting and investigation process and actively support 
the Speak Up program. We maintain a fulsome process for escalation and 
investigation of potential compliance-related concerns. The process is 
designed to ensure that we promptly and discreetly investigate all reports of 
conduct and/or behavior that could violate our policies, values or standards.
If allegations of misconduct are substantiated, appropriate remediation and 
disciplinary actions are taken to ensure that those who were responsible 
are held accountable and recurrence is prevented. Disciplinary actions can 
include, but are not limited to, dismissal from the Company, issuance of 
final written warning letters and/or financial penalties. In addition, we take 
appropriate steps to address any needed improvements in organizational and 
process controls.
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GRI 2-23 | GRI 2-24 | SASB 510a.2

Subject to local law, the Company also has the discretion to reduce incentive 
payments made to employees in certain instances of misconduct. This may 
apply when employees engage in misconduct that results in a material policy 
violation. Retaliation against employees who report concerns is a violation of 
corporate policy and is strictly prohibited.
The Office of Ethics and the Office of General Counsel are responsible for 
overseeing investigations into potential ethics and compliance concerns 
to ensure consistent and timely resolution of potential concerns and 
implementation of remediation actions.
> Please visit our corporate website for more information on our Code of Conduct. 
Ethics & Integrity Culture-Building Assessments & 
Listening Program
As an example of an industry-leading best practice, our Company developed 
the Ethics and Integrity Culture-Building Assessment and Listening Program 
which aims to build and sustain trust between employees and management 
and to promote and enhance our Speak Up culture.
In 2022, we brought the program to two markets: Japan, across all divisions; 
and Brazil, where we focused on an Animal Health manufacturing plant. 
In both markets, our regional ethics officers partnered with local teams to 
facilitate a series of listening sessions with management and employees. 
During the sessions, employees were empowered to share their views on 
the Company's culture with respect to speaking up and listening up. At the 
same time, managers were able to gain valuable insights into the strengths 
and areas of opportunity for their own teams' cultures. After the listening 
sessions were completed, leaders implemented action plans to further 
strengthen their organization's Speak Up culture. 
This program supports the Company’s priority to “Invest in the growth, 
success and well-being" of its people. It also reflects a commitment to two 
of the Company's Ways of Working: “Speak up and be open-minded” and 
“Embrace diversity and inclusion.” The program aligns with our sustainability 
goals by helping to build diverse and inclusive team cultures while enhancing 
employee engagement.
Compliance with laws and regulations
GRI 2-27	
Notices of violations, fines and settlements
We report all forms of EHS compliance notices using the term Notices of 
Violation (NOVs), which includes citations, letters of warning and notices of 
noncompliance from environmental- and safety-focused regulatory agencies.
In 2022, we had 196 EHS-related regulatory agency inspections of our facilities 
around the world. We received 3 safety-related and 11 environmental-related 
NOVs, and paid $6,693 in fines in 2022. None of the environmental-related 
NOVs were the result of a significant spill.
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GRI 2-25 | GRI 2-26

Notices of violations, citations and fines
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Notices of violations (NOVs) and citations
Environmental 
6
9
9
16
11
Safety 
1
4
3
2
3
Fines
Environmental fines paid
$0
$17,690
$21,022
$191,870
$6,693
Number of environmental fines
0
3
3
4
2
Safety fines paid
$0
$0
$0
$736
$0
Number of safety fines
0
0
0
1
0
> For more information regarding compliance-related matters, please see GRI 416 on 
pages 148-153.
Our Company is a member of numerous U.S.-based industry and 
trade groups. We work with these groups because they represent the 
pharmaceutical industry and business community in debates led by 
governments and other stakeholders, and because they help the industry 
reach consensus on policy issues.
Our top three trade associations in 2022:
•	 Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
•	 U.S. Chamber of Commerce
•	 Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)
Membership associations
GRI 2-28	
When our trade associations actively lobby on our core business issues, we 
seek to align their positions with our own. There are times, however, when we 
may not share the views of our peers or associations—both on issues that are 
central to our business and on those that, while important, are not directly 
material to our purpose. With representatives on the boards and committees 
of industry groups and trade associations, we can voice questions or concerns 
we may have about policy or related activities. We may even recuse ourselves 
from related trade association or industry group activities when appropriate.
The Governance Committee of the Board of Directors has ongoing oversight 
of our membership in trade associations and grassroots lobbying activities. 
Each year, the full Board of Directors receives a report that lists for the 
previous year (a) the U.S. industry and trade groups in which we are a member 
for which our dues are greater than $25,000 and (b) the amount of our dues 
that were spent by these groups on lobbying and political activity in the U.S.
> Please see the Transparency Disclosures page on our corporate website for a list of 
our U.S. industry and trade groups.
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GRI 2-27

Through our top three trade associations, we engaged on the following policy 
issues in 2022: 
In the U.S., the top issues at the federal level for which our Company 
lobbied were:
•	 Medicare Part B
•	 Medicare Part D
•	 Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA)
In the U.S., we lobbied at the state level to address these key issues:
•	 Market-based solutions to support patient access to innovative medicines, 
vaccines and care
•	 Regulatory policies to enable a strong business environment for 
U.S. operations 
•	 Support for a strong immunization infrastructure 
•	 Strengthening access to animal health products
In Europe, the top issues we focused our advocacy on included:
•	 Addressing the European Commission’s review of incentives for 
biopharmaceutical products
•	 Fostering frameworks for sound pricing and procurement regimes in and 
across diverse European Union (EU) member state economies
•	 Supporting government vaccination, hepatitis and diabetes programs
•	 Advancing the dialogue for sustainable models to fund future cancer care
•	 Improving standards for health technology assessment and health literacy
•	 Ensuring science-based policies for biological medicines
•	 Strengthening access to animal health products
•	 Science-based trade policy for farm animals and food products derived 
from farm animals
•	 New Veterinary Regulation (NVR)
•	 EU Chemicals Sustainability Strategy and the zero pollution initiative
•	 Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
•	 Animal Health as a contributor to food sustainability
•	 One Health strategy
•	 New technological and data developments
In 2022, we conducted a climate policy alignment assessment of U.S. 
trade associations in which we were a member in 2021 and for which our 
dues were greater than $25,000. For this assessment, we determined 
whether these trade associations had publicly disclosed formal positions on 
climate change and, if so, we reviewed those positions in the context of our 
Company's own position on climate change. This assessment can be found 
on the Sustainability Resources page on our corporate website. 
> Information on our approach to climate change, and related performance data, can be 
found in GRI 305 on page 101.
Approach to stakeholder engagement
GRI 2-29	
We engage with a diverse group of stakeholders to gain insights that can 
inform our efforts and foster our progress toward solutions that benefit 
society and support our business.
Many of these engagements with partners can be found throughout this 
report. The groups of stakeholders with which we regularly engage include:
Patients and caregivers
For patient communities—which includes individual patients, their 
caregivers and family members, patient advocacy leaders and patient 
organizations—it is critical that we respect and honor their life experiences 
to better understand their health care journeys, expected outcomes and 
decision-making considerations.
> For more information on our work with patient groups, please see our Patients 
& Caregivers page on our corporate website and our Commitment to Patients 
document on our corporate website.
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GRI 2-28

Shareholders
Throughout the year, we regularly engage with our shareholders and seek 
to better understand their perspectives. 
We have established a proactive shareholder engagement program, in 
which members of Investor Relations, the Office of the Secretary, Human 
Resources and the ESG Strategy & Engagement Team, as well as other 
subject-matter experts within the Company, engage with our shareholders 
to remain well informed regarding their perspectives on current issues and 
to address any questions or concerns. These teams serve as liaisons between 
shareholders, members of senior management and the Board.
In addition, we conduct an extensive shareholder outreach program twice 
a year focused on governance, executive compensation and sustainability 
matters. We believe it is most productive to discuss these matters well in 
advance of the annual meeting. This enables management and the Board 
to gather information about investor perspectives and make educated 
and deliberate decisions that are balanced and appropriate for our diverse 
shareholder base and in the Company’s best interests.
In 2022, we hosted a virtual investor event with our CEO and other members of 
his Executive Team to discuss our Company’s sustainability priorities and goals, 
and how our sustainability strategy is fundamental to our long-term business 
value and success. A webcast of this event is available on our corporate website.
> For more information on our engagements with shareholders, including topics 
discussed, please see our 2023 proxy statement (pages 25-26).
Health care professionals
We are committed to providing appropriate and balanced information to 
physicians and other health care providers about our medicines, vaccines 
and ongoing research.
> For more information on our work with health care professionals, please see GRI 203 
on pages 54-76, GRI 206 on pages 82-83 and GRI 417 on pages 154-155.
> For our disclosures on payments to health care professionals, visit the Transparency 
Disclosures page on our corporate website.
Employees
We strive to foster a positive and inclusive working environment for our 
employees by providing resources to improve their health and that of their 
families, opportunities to further their professional development and ways 
to get more involved in the communities where they live.
As part of our efforts to maintain a satisfying and productive work 
environment, we routinely survey all employees to learn about their 
perspectives on the business and on how we are responding to the needs 
of our global workforce. The Employee Pulse Survey, our Company’s 
all-employee engagement survey, is our flagship employee feedback 
mechanism and is conducted multiple times a year.
> To learn more about our work with employees, please see GRI 401 to 405 on 
pages 114-142.
Payers
We work with payers worldwide to inform their understanding of the 
relationship between the prices of our products and the true value they 
deliver to patients and health care systems.
> For more information on our work with payers, please see our 2022 Pricing Action 
Transparency Report on the Sustainability Resources page of our corporate website.
Governments, multilateral organizations 
and regulators
We work with policymakers, legislators, multilateral organizations and 
governments worldwide to ensure that policy and regulatory environments 
globally, nationally and locally foster patient access to medicines and 
vaccines, and that these environments are conducive to ethical business 
practices, science and innovation.
> For more information on these engagements, please see GRI 415 on page 147.
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GRI 2-29

Suppliers and business partners
We strive to engage a diverse supplier base and to encourage responsible 
approaches on the part of suppliers regarding labor, employment, human 
rights, health and safety, ethics, diversity and protection of the environment.
> To learn more, please see GRI 2-6 on page 35, GRI 204 on page 77, GRI 308 on 
page 112, GRI 412 on page 143, and GRI 414 on page 145.
Collective bargaining agreements
GRI 2-30	
> For information on the number of employees covered by collective bargaining 
agreements, please see our 2022 Form 10-K, page 20. Working conditions and 
terms of employment for employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements 
are not determined based on other collective bargaining agreements.
Management of material topics
GRI 3-3	
List of material topics
GRI 3-2	
Process to determine material topics
GRI 3-1	
An ESG materiality assessment helps us to prioritize the environmental, social 
and governance topics that matter most to our stakeholders, our Company and 
the world. Our assessment provides insight into future trends and potential 
business risks and opportunities. 
Our priority topics 
In our 2023 ESG materiality assessment, the following topics emerged as the 
most critical for our Company to address. They are grouped below by our four 
focus areas.
Access to Health
•	 Access to health care and medicine (pages 54-76) 
•	 Equity and affordability (pages 64-76) 
•	 Product safety and quality (pages 54-76, 77-82, 148-155) 
•	 Public health risks (pages 54-76)
Trade and industry associations
We engage with stakeholders through membership in numerous organizations. 
Our Company is a member of numerous U.S.-based industry and trade groups. 
We work with these groups because they represent the pharmaceutical industry 
and business community in debates led by governments and other stakeholders, 
and because they help the industry reach consensus on policy issues.
> To learn more about work with membership organizations, please see GRI 2-28 on 
pages 46-47.
Veterinary professionals and animal caretakers 
We value our partnership with veterinary professionals and animal 
caretakers to contribute to the health of the animals in their care with 
innovative products and solutions for farm and companion animal species. 
We regularly communicate and collaborate with our customers and industry 
leaders in our shared pursuit of continuously improving the health of animals.
> To learn more about our work with veterinarians and animal caretakers, please visit 
the Animal Health website.
Local communities
We work toward developing culturally-appropriate mechanisms to 
engage and build relationships with our local community stakeholders 
and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). We conduct this engagement 
predominantly through our philanthropic efforts, which can be found on 
the Philanthropy page on our corporate website.
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GRI 2-29

Employees
•	 Employee diversity and inclusion (pages 134-142)
•	 Employee health and safety (pages 119-129) 
•	 Talent management (pages 39, 47-49, 114-142)
Environmental Sustainability
•	 Climate change risks and management (pages 52-53, 89-91, 101-106)
Ethics & Values
•	 Ethical corporate behavior (pages 44-45, 81-82, 154-155, 
Code of Conduct & Compliance) 
•	 Privacy and data security (pages 156-157) 
•	 Energy management
•	 Equity and affordability
•	 Ethical corporate behavior
•	 Ethics in R&D
•	 GHG emissions
•	 Governance structures and mechanisms
•	 Human rights
•	 Innovation and technology
•	 Labor practices
•	 Management of local impacts
•	 Management of the legal and regulatory environment
•	 Natural capital 
•	 Physical and sociopolitical risks
•	 Product and service safety and quality 
•	 Product design and lifecycle management
•	 Public health risks
•	 Responsible consumption and production
•	 Selling practices and product labeling
•	 Sourcing efficiency and management
•	 Talent management
•	 Transition to renewables and alternative energies
•	 Transparency
•	 Waste and hazardous materials management
•	 Water and wastewater management
We used Datamaran's GRI-certified software platform to scan competitor, 
supplier and customer ESG reports and financial communications, as well 
as news sources and mandatory and voluntary regulations from around the 
world. This assessment was coupled with surveys to leaders at the Company 
as well as investors with whom we engage regularly on sustainability issues.
GRI's management approach disclosures are included in this report for our 
material ESG topics as well as disclosures for many of the topics above that 
are relevant for our industry. We have previously conducted these ESG 
materiality assessments in 2015, 2018 and 2021.
Our approach
To conduct the assessment, we partnered with Datamaran, an ESG 
materiality and risk-management firm, which uses a data-driven process 
for evaluating the relevance of topics and trends to our business and our 
stakeholders. We began with a list of material issues for our industry, which 
is aligned with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and 
applies SASB's accounting metrics. 
These topics included:
•	 Access to health care and medicine
•	 Air emissions
•	 Business model resilience
•	 Climate change risks and management
•	 Community relations
•	 Competitive behavior
•	 Customer practices
•	 Customer privacy and data security
•	 Ecological impacts
•	 Employee diversity and inclusion
•	 Employee health and safety
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GRI 3-1 | GRI 3-2 | GRI 3-3

Economic performance
Economic
Direct economic value generated and distributed
GRI 201-1	
> For information about our business and economic performance, please see our 
2022 Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, on our corporate website. 
> For information on our overall tax strategy, please see our Global Tax Strategy 
on our corporate website.
In December 2021, we issued a $1 billion sustainability bond, as part 
of an $8 billion underwritten bond offering. Our Company is utilizing 
the net proceeds from the sustainability bond offering to support 
projects and partnerships in our priority areas and contribute to the 
advancement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 
Through June 30, 2022 (the most recent reporting period for the bond), 
we have allocated $760 million of the net proceeds towards social and 
green projects in alignment with our sustainability financing framework. 
> For more information, please see our 2022 Sustainability Bond Allocation Report 
on our Investor Relations page of our corporate website.
> Information on our employee compensation can be found on page 52.
> For more information on our benefits, please see GRI 201-3 on page 53.
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Economic

Employees and compensation
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Total compensation paid to employees/payroll, including benefits 
(in billions)
$8.98
$9.56
$10.18
$9.92
$10.15
(such as additional legal or regulatory requirements, changes in technology, 
market risk and reputational risk) and social and human effects (such as 
population dislocations and harm to health and well-being) associated with 
climate change. These risks can be either acute (short-term) or chronic 
(long-term).
The adverse impacts of climate change include increased frequency and 
severity of natural disasters and extreme weather events such as hurricanes, 
tornados, wildfires (exacerbated by drought), flooding and extreme heat. 
Extreme weather and sea-level rise pose physical risks to our facilities as 
well as those of our suppliers. Such risks include losses incurred as a result 
of physical damage to facilities, loss or spoilage of inventory, and business 
interruption caused by such natural disasters and extreme weather events. 
Other potential physical impacts due to climate change include reduced 
access to high-quality water in certain regions and the loss of biodiversity, 
which could impact future product development. These risks could disrupt 
our operations and our supply chain, which may result in increased costs.
New legal or regulatory requirements may be enacted to prevent, mitigate 
or adapt to the implications of a changing climate and its effects on the 
environment. These regulations, which may differ across jurisdictions, 
could result in our Company being subject to new or expanded carbon 
pricing or taxes, increased compliance costs, restrictions on greenhouse 
gas emissions, investment in new technologies, increased carbon disclosure 
and transparency, upgrade of facilities to meet new building codes, and 
the redesign of utility systems which could increase our operating costs, 
including the cost of electricity and energy we use. Our supply chain would 
likely be subject to these same transitional risks and would likely look to 
pass along any increased costs to our Company, all of which may affect our 
ability to procure raw materials or other supplies at the quantities and levels 
required for the operation of our business.
Financial implications and other risks and opportunities 
due to climate change
GRI 201-2	
Impact investing
Impact investing is one of our core approaches to advancing sustainable 
global health solutions in line with our Company’s overall objectives. Through 
impact investing, we deploy financial resources in ways that may generate 
not only improved access to health care for underserved populations, but also 
financial returns and strategic opportunities—all while growing a sustainable 
global health ecosystem and attracting additional capital and partners.
Impact investing is led by our Office of Social Business Innovation with 
guidance from our Impact Investing Committee. Established in 2019, the 
Impact Investing Committee is a cross-functional team of senior Company 
leaders that reviews and approves new investments in line with established 
policies and guidelines and monitors the financial and social returns of the 
impact portfolio.
We are members of several external networks through which we can 
contribute to and benefit from the growing body of expertise in the impact 
investing ecosystem.
> For more information on our impact investments, please visit our Impact Investing page 
on our corporate website.
Climate change, or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate 
change, may negatively affect our business, results of operations, cash flows 
and prospects. We are exposed to physical risks (such as extreme weather 
conditions or rising sea levels), risks in transitioning to a low-carbon economy 
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Economic
CONTINUED:	
GRI 201-1

While we understand the potential risks to our Company, there is limited 
data around the potential financial implications of these risks. In 2022, we 
continued performing a Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures 
(TCFD) gap analysis. This included a high-level TCFD-aligned qualitative 
physical and transitional climate risk and opportunity scenario assessment 
to examine which parts of our business are at highest risk due to climate 
change, and the associated costs.
These potential risks are integrated into our business planning, including 
investment in reducing energy usage, water use and greenhouse gas 
emissions (GHG).
We have made it a priority to reduce our demand for energy, and have 
established internal policies and practices focused on reducing energy use 
at our sites and minimizing GHG generation throughout the Company. 
By taking these steps, we are not only minimizing GHG emissions but also 
reducing operating costs and mitigating the business impacts expected to 
be associated with future climate change requirements.
Our Sustainability Capital Fund is used exclusively for environmental 
sustainability projects that bring long-term value to the Company, focusing 
on carbon footprint, water use and solid waste reduction at our sites around 
the world. The fund allocates up to $12 million per year, which allows us 
to adopt low carbon technology, better positions us to respond to climate 
change and supports a more circular economy.1 Since 2015, our sites have 
completed more than 159 projects through the Sustainability Capital Fund, 
which has avoided the production of an estimated 57,100 metric tons of 
carbon emissions per year. 
Management does not believe that expenditures related to our environmental 
sustainability initiatives should have a material adverse effect on our financial 
condition, results of operations, liquidity or capital resources for any year.
> For more information, please see GRI 305 on page 101. 
> Our CDP Climate Change Questionnaire is available on CDP’s website, which CDP has 
aligned to the TCFD reporting recommendations.
Defined benefit plan obligations and other retirement plans
GRI 201-3	
Worldwide, we offer core and ancillary financial security and retirement 
benefits that routinely rank among the most valuable and progressive of 
other large multinational corporations.
Outside the U.S., we have more than 80 pension plans (including defined 
benefit, cash balance and defined contribution plans) in over 40 countries. 
These plans often supplement government-sponsored social security 
pension benefits to improve employees’ financial security through added 
retirement income.
In the U.S., we offer a defined benefit pension plan as well as a 401(k) plan 
with matching contributions. The average employee contribution rate of pay 
into the 401(k) plan is approximately 10 percent. Approximately 97 percent 
of U.S.-based employees participate in the 401(k) plan, and 100 percent 
participate in the pension plan. Additionally, U.S.-based employees who are 
at least age 55 and those who have at least 10 years of service after age 40 
are eligible for subsidized medical benefits at retirement.
Benefits vary based on region and country, employee group and status, 
collective bargaining agreements and local legal requirements. 
> For information on our other benefits, please see our Well-being Report on our 
corporate website.
1 As defined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “a circular economy is based on the principles of designing out 
waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.”
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GRI 201-2

Percentage change in: (1) list price and (2) net price of 
product with largest increase compared to previous year
SASB 240b.3	
Percentage change in: (1) average list price and (2) 
average net price across U.S. product portfolio compared 
to previous year
SASB 240b.2	
Products on WHO’s List of Prequalified Medicinal Products
SASB 240a.2	
Access to health care for priority diseases and in 
priority countries
SASB 240a.1	
Indirect economic impacts
Discovery and invention 
For more than a century, we have been inventing medicines and vaccines 
for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. We are committed 
to addressing unmet medical needs through innovative research and 
development (R&D). Our R&D expenses of $13.5 billion in 2022 reflected 
robust clinical development spending as well as increased investment in 
discovery research and early drug development from 2021. 
Global burden of disease
As defined by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) visualization tools 
developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the 
diseases that our products address rank high on the list of worldwide causes 
of illness, disability, and death. Our research into vaccines and infectious 
diseases seeks to address major burdens of disease that are prevalent 
in all countries. We believe that the resulting vaccines and treatments 
can have the greatest impact in lower-income countries where drug 
donation and immunization programs have been shown to save lives and 
prevent disease and disabilities, reducing the risk of extreme poverty and 
economic instability.
Considering our pipeline, the list of products we currently market, and our 
external collaborations, we estimate that our Company is seeking to address 
83 percent of the top 20 global burdens of disease as defined by the IHME. 
This is higher than the 71 percent reported in 2021 due to the inclusion of 
external malaria and maternal health partnerships, which were not accounted 
for in prior years.
Management approach
GRI 203	
As we pursue our core purpose to use the power of leading-edge science 
to save and improve lives around the world, we also work with key 
stakeholders to help ensure that our science advances health care and 
that our products are accessible and affordable to those in need. We do 
this in several ways, including:
•	 Discovering and inventing medicines and vaccines that address vital 
global health needs where we can have the greatest impact, now and in 
the future
•	 Making available a reliable, safe global supply of quality medicines and 
vaccines, and investing in solutions to enable timely access to our products 
in a responsible and sustainable manner
•	 Developing, testing and implementing innovative solutions that address 
barriers to access and affordability of our medicines and vaccines
•	 Through partnerships, investment and innovation, applying our expertise 
and investing our human and financial resources to address systemic 
barriers to access to health and health equity 
Our multi-pronged, enterprise-wide approach to access is guided by our 
Access to Health Guiding Principles, and is responsive to internationally-
recognized standards and priorities. We embed strategies and actions across 
the Company to enable access. 
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General disclosures
Environmental
Social
Indices
Economic

Research and development
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Research and development expenses (in billions)1,2
$9.8
$9.7
$13.4
$12.2
$13.5
Top 20 global burdens of diseases addressed by our products 
and pipeline3,4
88%
100%
88%
71%
83%
Established significant external licenses and collaborations5
64
78
123 
92
97
1 R&D expenses include a $2.7 billion charge in 2020 related to the acquisition of VelosBio, Inc., a $1.7 billion charge in 2021 for the acquisition of Pandion Therapeutics, Inc. and $1.7 billion of intangible asset impairment charges in 2022.
2 The historical results of the businesses that were contributed to Organon & Co. in the 2021 spin-off have been reflected as discontinued operations in the Company’s consolidated financial statements through the date of the 
spin-off and therefore are excluded from the 2019, 2020 and 2021 figures presented. Recast figures for 2018 are not available. 
3 Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) using GBD 2019 data. We exclude road injuries and age-related hearing loss from our GBD accounting, as they are not subject to pharmaceutical intervention. 
4 All calculations for our Company's GBD impact are based on the latest IHME report available, from 2019. As such, impact from more recent diseases like COVID-19 is not accounted for. We also do not include road injuries or 
age-related hearing loss in our GBD accounting since they are not subject to pharmaceutical intervention.
5 These partnerships are deemed 'significant' because they involve an asset or technology with the potential to make an important enhancement to our R&D capabilities. 
underserved health care settings is identified, the access planning process 
includes engaging all parts of our enterprise, as well as external stakeholders, 
to identify the optimal solution.
Once approved, we commit to making the product available in all countries 
where clinical trials have been conducted. Products continue to be evaluated 
for their potential to address disease burden throughout their life cycle to 
account for changes in the external environment.
Sometimes the evaluation of a candidate during the R&D process reveals 
barriers to access in low-income countries or underserved settings. In these 
situations, the evaluation process can inform our approach to strengthening 
health systems and improving health equity. We recognize that addressing 
the complex and multi-faceted challenges to accessing health care in 
LMICs requires the collaboration of multiple stakeholders. We actively seek 
partnerships to achieve solutions that enable access. 
One example of our approach to early access planning in the clinical trial 
process is our global access strategy for our investigational antiviral COVID-19 
medicine. This strategy aims to ensure timely and widespread access in the 
context of a pandemic. For details on our work to accelerate broadening the 
reach of this medicine, please visit the Affordability and Sustainable Access 
section on page 69.
Systematic evaluation to inform product access strategies 
Embedded within our development R&D process, we systematically evaluate 
our candidates to identify the potential to address significant public health 
burden and unmet medical needs in underserved health care settings. 
This evaluation process informs our product access strategies, with the 
goal of making our medicines and vaccines available to as many people as 
possible through sustainable solutions.
To facilitate access, we undertake a systematic evaluation at the onset 
of Phase 2 clinical studies to determine a candidate’s potential to address 
unmet medical needs in LMICs. Our approach involves evaluating the level 
of disease burden that exists, the availability of alternative medications, 
and the appropriateness of our pipeline candidates to improve public health. 
For candidates with significant potential in underserved settings, access 
planning may start in the pre-clinical phase. Additionally, understanding 
where health system infrastructure and funding mechanisms are in place 
is an important component of enabling safe and effective usage, which 
ultimately facilitates meaningful patient access. 
Our R&D Governance Committee is accountable for the evaluation process, 
and all recommendations are reviewed by our Policy and ESG Council (PEC), 
an internal cross-divisional forum of senior leaders. When a drug or vaccine 
candidate with the potential to address significant public health burden in 
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Clinical research
Our Global Clinical Development organization is responsible for conducting 
clinical trials worldwide to evaluate the safety and efficacy of our pipeline 
candidates. In accordance with our Public Policy Position Statement 
on Clinical Trial Ethics, all investigational studies in human subjects are 
conducted in a manner consistent with laws, regulations and guidelines for 
the protection of human subjects, including those issued by the International 
Council for Harmonisation: Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP). However, 
individual country regulations and guidelines remain the primary determinant 
of specific requirements for the conduct of medical research.
We are committed to the study of appropriately diverse patient 
populations—including groups that have been previously underrepresented 
in clinical trials: women and children, people of varying ages, sexual 
orientation and gender identities, various socioeconomic backgrounds 
and other characteristics—in our clinical trials. Currently, we conduct our 
trials in more than 60 countries worldwide. In support of this commitment, 
we have implemented a number of programs and processes over the past 
several years.
Internally, we have a team of clinical trial operations experts focused on 
ensuring our clinical trials reflect the broad diversity of the populations we 
serve, and on implementing best practices in the conduct of clinical trials 
globally. This begins with the selection of clinical trial sites in communities 
serving historically underrepresented ethnic groups. We also provide resources 
and training to increase awareness and best practices for improving diversity 
in clinical research. Clinical research studies sponsored by our Company are also 
planned and conducted to incorporate enrollment and other goals focused on 
increasing diversity. 
Externally, our Company continues to be an active contributor and participant 
in various collaborations intended to connect with, support and train more 
U.S.-based clinicians from underrepresented groups. The aim is to help drive 
equitable access to clinical research at the community level. We also co-sponsor 
the Improving Patient Access to Clinical Trials (IMPACT) study at the Lazarex 
Cancer Foundation.
IMPACT is a three-year pilot program that strives to increase the diversity 
of patients enrolled in clinical trials, as well as improve retention and 
equitable access in oncology trials. We have also implemented novel tools 
and approaches to build relationships and reach potential study participants 
within their own communities (e.g., partnerships with local pharmacies and 
mobile study sites). Consistent with ICH-GCP requirements, as part of the 
informed consent process clinical trial participants are made aware of the 
compensation or treatment available to them and whom to contact in the 
event of a treatment-related injury. In addition, we maintain procedures 
that address the costs of treatment in the event of trial-related injuries, in 
accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.
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Compliance
Compliance in our research laboratories is focused not only on the conduct 
of clinical trials, but also on helping ensure robust oversight of effective 
policies and procedures, training, auditing and risk management, as well 
as sponsoring risk identification, prioritization and mitigation for our 
MSD Research Laboratories (MRL).
We have a Compliance Committee within MRL, with the objective of ensuring 
ongoing compliance through appropriate management structure, processes 
and training.
The Compliance Committee comprises members of the Research Leadership 
Team (RLT). Including the RLT in the Compliance Committee ensures cross-
functional awareness and ownership of ethics and compliance at the senior-
management level. 
The Compliance Committee promotes ethical science and provides guidance 
to our employees within the research organization on our Company’s 
standards and corporate policies, as well as necessary education related 
to specific requirements applicable to the research community.
Genetic research 
The rapid development of new technologies that interrogate variability 
in human DNA and RNA, combined with powerful computing hardware 
and software, has made it practical to investigate genetic and genomic 
determinants for risk of human disease or predictors of human response 
to drugs. 
We conduct genetic and genomic research within our clinical trials and in 
collaboration with external organizations that have collected human genetic 
and genomic samples and health data. We also conduct genetic and genomic 
analysis of our clinical trial samples, primarily to understand how genetic and 
genomic variation impact patient responses to medicines. This enables us 
to communicate information to regulatory authorities and prescribers that 
will improve the use of our medicines and the understanding of how genetics 
contribute to the underlying disease, which has the potential to identify new 
drug targets. 
We obtain subject consent for use of genetic and genomic samples in 
accordance with ethical principles of human-subjects research, which include 
respect for persons/autonomy, beneficence and justice, consistent with 
the Declaration of Helsinki, U.S. FDA requirements, ICH E6 Good Clinical 
Practices guidelines and the 1997 UNESCO Declaration on the Human 
Genome and Human Rights. When collaborating with external organizations, 
we also ensure they've obtained consent from individuals who have 
contributed DNA, RNA and/or health-related data. 
Use of stem cells 
Together with the scientific community, we believe that research using stem 
cells has the potential to help identify medicines, therapies and vaccines to 
help treat, cure or prevent disease. Many of the most advanced scientific 
technologies in regenerative medicine involve animal or human embryonic 
stem cells. 
For more than a decade, we've applied advances in stem-cell technologies 
to support our research and development. The capacity of stem cells to 
differentiate into specific cell types underscores their versatility and utility, 
from early target validation and identification, to the screening and testing 
of potential new therapeutics, disease-modeling and pre-clinical proof 
of concept. 
We conduct research using stem cells in full accordance with all applicable 
laws and regulations, and our own internal research policies. Our research 
policy involving stem cells adheres to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences 
guidelines as well as those of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. 
Our Regenerative Medicine Oversight Committee, which comprises both 
internal and external experts, oversees Company-sponsored research 
involving stem cells, including highly-targeted research using human 
embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. The committee 
is responsible for ensuring that all projects involving stem cells adhere to 
our policies. 
> For more information on our R&D efforts, please visit the Research & Products page 
on our corporate website. 
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Availability 
Scientific innovation relies on excellent manufacturing and commercialization 
execution to support broad access across the world, enabling our inventions 
to reach all patients in need while reducing our environmental impacts. 
Our supply chain is designed to ensure we operate a lean and efficient 
network that produces our medicines and vaccines to the highest quality, 
safety and environmental standards, in full compliance with regulations and 
current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs), and industry best practices.
Rapidly evolving external landscape 
Our Company is adapting, innovating and planning for a dynamic, evolving 
landscape so we can continue to expand availability of lifesaving medicines 
and vaccines. Some of this evolving landscape includes significant global 
economic pressures, including rising inflation, geopolitical insecurity and 
climate-related disasters.
We continue making investments and driving innovations in our supply chain, 
with a focus on both the short- and long-term horizon. Examples include:
•	 Adaptations in manufacturing and supply that support greater complexity 
of oncology and vaccine value chains, driven by new product modalities, 
new delivery mechanisms, and evolving regulatory requirements
•	 Planning for increased demand for several new indication approvals in 
oncology, in addition to multiple new medicines launching in multiple 
countries over the short- and long-term
•	 Supporting channel expansion for vaccines, including through new 
public tenders
•	 Responding to an expanding base of customer decision-makers and 
expanding our distribution models to address increasing shifts in private 
and public channel mix, including government distributors handling a 
greater proportion of our products
Strong supply chain systems, made more robust with innovations for 
efficiency and distribution to under-resourced and remote locations, will 
be the engine that helps us navigate these challenges. These innovations 
are also driving our focus to address key supply chain constraints, while 
delivering on our Company’s goals for environmental sustainability.
Innovations in manufacturing and supply chain
Our Company has made significant inroads in digital capabilities across 
supply chain processes to respond in real time to the evolving health care 
ecosystem. The most notable digital capabilities impacting availability 
include orchestrating the supply chain ecosystem, supply chain planning, 
strengthening logistics capabilities and connecting distribution channels. 
Orchestration: Integrating data and decision-making across the 
supply chain
We are improving the quality and agility of strategic and integrated 
decision-making across a supply chain ecosystem. Our objective is to 
connect manufacturers, transporters, third-party providers, suppliers and 
partners with real-time data. These improvements have shortened sales and 
operations planning cycle time from seven weeks to four weeks, increasing 
our ability to respond to customer opportunities and to meet patient needs.
Supply chain planning
Throughout 2022, we worked to improve real-time supply chain analytics 
and execution, increasing resiliency and adaptability to future supply chain 
disruptions and customer opportunities. In addition, we have established 
automated data governance with centralized resources for master data, 
which has allowed for demand forecast automation and significantly 
improved forecast accuracy. This planning enables us to continue to surpass 
our target of 95 percent of orders shipped on time and in full, with an 
achievement of 98.2 percent in 2022 (see Availability table on page 60).
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Logistics
We are building digital capabilities and enhancing business processes to 
create a more agile, efficient and sustainable distribution and logistics 
infrastructure. These enhancements give us visibility into shipments in transit 
through digital logistics, enable interventions to prevent loss of product, 
and ensure reliable product delivery. We also maintain our commitment 
to logistics security, including our track record of 100 percent of logistics 
partners completing security assessments (see Availability table on page 60).
Connected channels
We are using blockchain and advanced technologies to improve the end-
to-end, secured flow of information with trading partners, industry peers, 
regulators, health care professionals and patients. In addition, we’re 
collaborating on the development of an industry technology platform, 
PharmaLedger, to enable e-leaflet capabilities at scale. Our goal is to 
provide patients and health care professionals a streamlined access to the 
latest product information approved by health authorities and to enhance 
safety and adherence to treatment. As we onboard an increasing number of 
markets, we are committed to significantly reducing the number of paper 
inserts while improving regulatory compliance.
Imperatives in manufacturing and supply chain to 
advance access
Innovations across our supply chain digital strategy support our strategic 
intent, focused on the following imperatives:
•	 Protect affordability: innovating supply chain designs enabling affordable, 
compliant and reliable access to our innovative medicines
•	 Flex operations: plan for supply disruptions with improved risk 
management and business continuity planning, including flexible 
manufacturing, to enable accelerated pharmaceutical formulation and 
process development. Modular and podular laboratory and manufacturing 
allows for rapid reconfiguration to implement new process capabilities for 
innovative drug delivery technologies
•	 Adapt to exceed customer expectations: agile supply chains can pivot 
when the unexpected happens, improving strategic and integrated 
decision-making to rapidly react to patient and customer opportunities 
and increase the reach of new medicines
•	 Reduce environmental impact: lower our carbon footprint and increase 
the sustainability of our supply chains
Integrating access planning in business strategies
Our enterprise-wide business strategy brings access planning early into our 
product development cycle and balances two objectives:
•	 Appropriately ensure people with unmet medical needs have access to our 
innovative, high-quality products
•	 Maintain and grow a responsible and sustainable business
For our manufacturing efforts, this means we are balancing internal and 
external licensing opportunities, including assessing new voluntary licensing 
and technology transfer strategies and expanding our network for supply 
chain design.
This business strategy enables enterprise-level strategic segmentation, 
highlighting the specific access gaps in markets and guiding us to 
commercially sustainable solutions, including new archetypes for 
manufacturing and supply execution.
As part of the enterprise-wide strategy, our manufacturing division 
will engage early in the life cycle of a program through a new product 
development and commercialization process to understand and facilitate 
future manufacturing, supply chain and network needs. While not all 
elements will be known, an early concept of the supply and manufacturing 
strategy will be critical to preserve future options. This means we start 
supply chain design early in Phase 1 of development.
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Availability1
2020
2021
2022
Logistics partners with security risk assessment completed, annually (Target: 100%)
100%
100%
100%
Reach at least 75% of countries around the world annually with our products (Target: 75%)2
78%
79%
76%
Orders shipped on time and in full (Target: 95%)
98.3%
98.3%
98.2%
1 Reporting on KPIs started with 2020 performance data.
2 As defined by the World Bank Country and Lending Groups. Includes only human health products.
Going above and beyond—emergency drone 
delivery experiment combines supply chain 
innovation and corporate responsibility 
Currently, more than 20 percent of the world's population cannot 
be reached through health care delivery systems. No one in need 
should be denied access to lifesaving medicines due to lack of 
infrastructure or transportation.
Our Company’s vision to increase access to our medicines and 
vaccines across the globe includes exploring the delivery of our 
products by drones in rural areas. Drone delivery helps us serve 
low-resource settings with limited logistical capabilities. It also 
helps us provide medical supplies during and after acute events 
like natural disasters or pandemics.
We started exploring the use of drone delivery after Hurricane 
Maria isolated many people in Puerto Rico. The use of drones 
can be a safe, compliant and reliable method of delivering cold 
chain-dependent products when patients are isolated. We have 
also developed a proof-of-concept drone delivery with a validated 
thermal protection system for isolated Native American 
communities in rural Alaska and in North Dakota. The proof 
of concept showed we can create access to our patients and 
customers despite logistical challenges. 
COVID-19 antiviral medicine—manufacturing and supply
To accelerate broad global access, our comprehensive supply and access 
approach includes producing millions of courses of our investigational 
antiviral COVID-19 medicine through our global network, which includes 
manufacturing sites in nine countries across three continents. 
> Read more about our approach on pages 65-66.
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Vaccines—manufacturing and supply
In the last few years, various countries have introduced new or expanded 
routine vaccination programs creating unprecedented increases in global 
demand for vaccines. To meet this demand, we will continue to increase our 
capacity and our supply capability across our vaccine portfolio.
Our Company plans to invest approximately $20 billion in capital projects 
from 2021-2025, with a portion dedicated to vaccines. We continue to invest 
in manufacturing and end-to-end supply improvements in both capability and 
capacity to help ensure a sustainable, reliable supply of quality and affordable 
vaccines to serve global needs. Our manufacturing division continuously 
works to improve manufacturing processes and reduce operating costs 
by increasing efficiency, minimizing procurement spending and improving 
supply performance.
Maintaining product quality is paramount. To provide high-quality 
vaccines to people who need them, we manage our supply chain through 
policies and procedures designed to keep the distribution system 
secure. We also continue to explore potential strategic partnerships with 
other manufacturers to increase supply and promote greater access in 
local markets.
Vaccines—key accomplishments and milestones
The global reach of our vaccines has increased significantly. Ex-U.S. 
distribution of our vaccines was 78 percent in 2022, up from 34 percent 
in 2013. This represents important progress toward ensuring that these 
vaccines reach people around the world, including in LMICs, who are at 
high risk for certain vaccine-preventable illnesses. For example, we 
have committed over 100 million doses of our HPV vaccine for use in 
Gavi-supported countries from 2021-2025. 
ERVEBO® (Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live) is the world’s first FDA-approved, 
WHO-prequalified vaccine for the prevention of Ebola virus disease. 
Through our agreement with UNICEF, we have built a 500,000 dose 
ERVEBO® stockpile, and continue delivering licensed doses to maintain 
the stockpile. As of March 2023, the vaccine has been approved in 
ten African countries. 
Additionally, in response to the health and humanitarian crisis of the Sudan 
ebolavirus outbreak in Uganda in 2022, our Company collaborated with IAVI, 
a global nonprofit scientific research organization, to produce and donate 
vials of investigational candidate Sudan ebolavirus vaccine for use in IAVI’s 
Sudan ebolavirus vaccine development program. The vials were produced 
from existing investigational bulk drug substance previously manufactured 
by our Company.
Product registration and prequalification
We seek to ensure global access to our medicines and vaccines by obtaining 
and maintaining up-to-date product registrations around the globe. In order 
to make our products available to the people who need them throughout the 
world, we registered 156 products and devices in 2022. 
The majority of these products were registered in LMICs in the Asia-Pacific, 
Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Americas regions. 
In addition to having our medicines and vaccines approved by regulatory 
authorities, when relevant to enhancing access in LMICs, we also work 
to have certain medicines and vaccines prequalified through the WHO 
prequalification process so that our products may be easily procured by 
and distributed to these LMIC populations. The table on the following page 
summarizes the registration and WHO prequalification status of a select list 
of our vaccines.
WHO prequalification facilitates product procurement by United Nations 
agencies in many LMICs. In the absence of stringent national medicine 
authorities, it serves to certify products meet required quality, safety and 
efficacy standards. WHO’s prequalification program covers routine vaccines 
and medicines for HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis, diarrhoeal 
diseases and select neglected tropical diseases. 
We have made efforts to address the unique needs of LMICs where the 
infrastructure and personnel to deliver immunization services can be severely 
limited. Specifically, we have focused on product improvements such as the 
introduction of vaccine vial monitors (VVMs) for use to assess controlled-
temperature-chain conditions. In May 2022, we obtained WHO approval for 
our Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines’ compatibility for use outside the 
cold chain for up to four days. This helps enhance accessibility for hard-to-
reach populations.
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Products prequalified by WHO 
International Nonproprietary Name (INN)
Date of 
prequalification 
Number of countries 
pre-qualified
Vaccines
MMR-II®
Measles, Mumps, Rubella Virus Vaccine Live
January 2009
77
ROTATEQ®
Rotavirvus Vaccine, Live, Oral, Pentavalent
October 2008
124
GARDASIL®
Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) 
Vaccine, Recombinant
May 2009
129
GARDASIL® 9
Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Vaccine, 
Recomninant (including a two-dose-regimen variation)¹
February 2018
85
VARIVAX®
Varicella Virus Vaccine Live (first varicella vaccine to receive 
WHO prequalification)
February 2018
87
ERVEBO®
Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live
November 2019
45
HIV/AIDS treatments
STOCRIN®
Efavirenz (600mg tablet, Oral Solution 30mg) 
Efavirenz (50mg tablet, 200mg tablet)
May 2006 
May 2008
54
¹Not currently available through UNICEF procurement; awaiting Vaccine Vial Monitor (VVM). 
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Product registration
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
New product and device registrations (annual)1,2
124
97
79
141
156
Products submitted that have achieved WHO prequalification 
(cumulative)3,4,5
13
13
13
7
7
Number of patent applications filed in low-income countries6
NR
0
0
0
0
NR: Not reported
1 Data include new products and new indications.
2 Data for all years have been updated based on a tracking system upgrade that corrected miscounts in prior years.
3 Three products previously reported are no longer part of the Company’s product portfolio due to the Organon & Co. spin-off in 2021. 
4 The three GARDASIL® (HPV 9-valent Vaccine, Recombinant) products that had been previously reported separately are reported as one product starting in 2021. 
5 CRIXIVAN® (indinavir sulfate) was removed from our product list in 2019 and is no longer included in the total number of products that have achieved WHO prequalification.
6 Countries classified as low-income countries in the 2019 World Bank Country and Lending Group classifications. 
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Affordability 
Working to solve affordability challenges to broaden reach of 
our innovative portfolio
Inspired by our former chairman, George W. Merck, who once said “We can 
never rest until a way has been found to bring our finest achievements to 
everyone,” we are working towards a world where everyone, everywhere has 
the option to receive the right medicines or vaccines when they need them. 
We strive to do this in a way that creates sustainable access to innovative 
medicines and vaccines, creating long-term value for patients, health 
systems and our Company. 
We seek to understand the barriers that stand in the way of people receiving 
the right medicines and vaccines when they need them. The underlying 
challenges that constrain patient access range from adequate capacity and 
channels for care delivery to sustainable financing. 
Within a wider ecosystem, different stakeholders—including private, 
governmental, multilateral and nonprofit organizations—have a unique role in 
reducing barriers and expanding sustainable access to health. Our approach 
is predicated on the belief that broadening access to medicines and vaccines 
is best achieved through collaborating with multiple stakeholders to enable 
solutions that solve the needs of people today and for generations to come.
Policy environment 
We recognize that an enabling policy environment is critical to solving access 
and affordability challenges. Therefore, we engage with governments, 
industry associations, trade and economic forums, think tanks and academia 
to advocate for evidence-based policy solutions. 
For example, we are actively involved in the Asia-Pacific Economic 
Cooperation’s (APEC) Health Care Financing initiatives. Through this effort, 
we are creating a roadmap that outlines priorities, objectives and targets 
for strengthening health care financing, sharing best practices from APEC 
economies, and strengthening the dialogue across industry, governments 
and academia to diagnose and solve pressing affordability challenges. 
We also participated in dialogue at the Health20 (H20), Business20 (B20) 
side-event, with the Atlantic Council, the World Cancer Congress, and 
alongside the UN General Assembly to promote evidence-based policies that 
can improve investment in health. 
To achieve sustainable access, health care resources must be used in a more 
efficient and equitable way. This transformation can only be achieved by 
learning and progressing together with cross-industry partners. The Global 
Coalition for Value in Healthcare was launched at the World Economic Forum 
in 2019, and aims to accelerate the development of value-based healthcare 
around the world. We are also contributing to the Global Innovation Hub 
Expert Review Committee by acting as advisor to the group. 
By supporting early adopters in value-based health care and spreading the 
learnings, we are working to inspire other health systems around the globe 
to embrace and implement value-oriented health care strategies and models, 
which would contribute to achieving sustainable access. 
Similarly, we work with organizations like ThinkWell to study and promote 
policies for sustainable financing for immunizations and comprehensive 
cancer prevention and care.
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Our Company goal to enable more people to access our 
innovative portfolio
Through collaborating with multiple stakeholders to address access to health 
challenges, we believe that more patients would benefit from a broad range 
of innovative medicines and vaccines, including ours. We work in partnership 
to develop and deliver solutions that enable more people to have sustainable 
access to medicines and vaccines. 
In 2021, we set a goal to enable 100 million more people globally to access 
our innovative portfolio—through access strategies, solutions and 
partnerships—by 2025, relative to a 2020 baseline. In 2022, we exceeded 
this goal and enabled access for 189.2 million people (see table below). 
We are committed to continue driving our aspiration and therefore increased 
this goal from 100 million to 350 million more people enabled to access to our 
innovative portfolio by 2025.
We continue expanding the reach of our innovative portfolio through 
developing therapy-specific access strategies, solutions and partnerships. 
Sustainable access strategies, solutions and partnerships 
We operate as an integrated Company across global, regional and market 
teams to address access challenges through multiple initiatives. We have 
established a systematic framework, which is available to all our markets, 
for diagnosing barriers to access, designing and delivering practical solutions 
that can help solve access challenges. We have also established a dedicated 
internal unit to systematically accelerate innovation, continuously evolve the 
relevant capabilities and capture learnings across various countries. Through 
this approach we have been able to accelerate the development of innovation 
in patient access models and solutions to expand the accessible population 
across the globe. 
In collaboration with Financial Times Longitude, we launched the Sustainable 
Access website to advocate for greater collaborations among various 
stakeholders to develop, test and scale solutions that help expand sustainable 
access to innovative treatments and vaccines. 
Enabling access to our medicines and vaccines
2019
2020
2021
2022
Number of countries where dedicated affordability solutions have been initiated
40
40
NR
NR
Total number of people enabled to access our innovative portfolio through access 
strategies, solutions and partnerships (in millions)1
NR
NR
66.7
189.2
People reached globally through product donation and patient assistance programs 
and partnerships (estimate in millions)2 (including MECTIZAN)
403.7
268.3
197.3
359.2
NR: Not reported.
1 Metrics contributing to this goal are displayed on an annual basis and provide information on the number of people who now have the option to access medicines and vaccines as a result of our sustainable access strategies, 
solutions and partnerships, including our commitment to Gavi and UNICEF (rather than doses shipped), collaborations to optimize resources in health systems, expanded financial coverage through insurance, and new 
community-based channel partnerships in LMICs. “Innovative portfolio” of products refers to our Company’s on-patent products. Enable more people is defined as implemented and launched in market and will be in 
comparison to the baseline (2020) as of 2025. Evidence for metrics are sourced from the best publicly available data and proxy sources by market. While proxies differ by market, all methodologies are evaluated and represent 
the best estimate of people enabled to access innovative medicines and vaccines. People who were enabled to access innovative medicines and vaccines did not necessarily receive such innovative medicines and vaccines.
2 Includes people reached through the MECTIZAN Donation Program, the MSD Medical Outreach Program, and the U.S. Patient Assistance Program. Total people reached with the MECTIZAN Donation Program increased in 
2022 as partner countries resumed additional MECTIZAN distribution following disruptions due to the pandemic. For more information on the details related to the people reached through donations, please see page 70.
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We have been building capabilities to support a portfolio of initiatives aimed 
at advancing sustainable access globally. These include enabling health care 
systems to better serve those in need through customer collaborations, 
health care financing, employer benefit design, and new delivery channels 
in LMICs.
Enabling health care systems to better serve those in need 
through customer collaborations
We recognize that in some environments, the challenge lies in having resilient 
health care systems that can reach patients at the right time with the 
right intervention. That is why we collaborate with health care and service 
providers in the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Brazil and Colombia to 
understand challenges across the care pathway and help advance solutions 
that can strengthen health care systems. 
Leveraging our clinical expertise, particularly in oncology, and our deep 
understanding of the health care ecosystem, we partner with the health 
care systems to better understand cancer patient pathway constraints and 
identify solutions that enable access and the optimal use of resources. 
One such approach is in the United Kingdom. We convened a broad coalition 
of eight National Health Services (NHS) Cancer Alliances and five national 
representative organizations to create the Do It For Yourself Campaign. 
This campaign raises awareness of distinguishing symptoms of lung cancer 
from those of COVID-19, and encourages people living in areas with high 
incidence to seek advice from their doctors if they have concerns about 
such symptoms. 
We also partner with more than 20 NHS Trust and Cancer Alliances to 
leverage data and analytical tools to help them better understand oncology 
treatment capacity constraints and explore opportunities to optimize their 
existing capacity. 
In Colombia, we have been working with multiple health maintenance 
organizations (HMOs) and oncology health care providers (HCPs) to identify 
inefficiencies and pain points in diagnosis pathways in lung and breast cancers 
to reduce the time to diagnosis. 
Enabling multiple sources of financing health care
One of the recurring access challenges in LMICs is the potentially high out-
of-pocket costs for critical illness treatments. Recognizing this issue, we 
have continued collaboration with reinsurers and insurance companies in, 
among others, South Africa, Thailand and Indonesia to develop affordable 
health insurance products for the population, including covering innovative 
cancer therapies. 
We are also actively collaborating with public health authorities to provide 
access to immunotherapy financing through supplemental medical insurance 
in China, providing options for the population and driving greater health 
care inclusion. 
We believe that expanding the reach of insurance products will help solve 
major access hurdles and, in turn, help increase access to innovative cancer 
therapies for patients. This collaborative approach to addressing access 
challenges reinforces our commitment to being part of a wider ecosystem, 
collaborating with others with complementary capabilities to tackle these 
access challenges. 
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Employers' role in benefit design
In the U.S., employers play an important role in the health care system through 
their employee health plans. In recent years, many organizations have faced 
spiraling costs—especially related to cancer care and treatment. The principles 
of value-based insurance design (V-BID) focuses on structuring health plans 
so that they incentivize high-value interventions and disincentivize low-value 
care. This aims to achieve two outcomes: improve patient outcomes and 
manage costs, which allows funding to be reallocated to support innovative 
new treatments. 
We have evaluated a V-BID Oncology Pilot that pioneered the use of V-BID 
principles in corporate cancer coverage for our employees in the U.S. We are 
leveraging data to better understand our employees’ health risks and our 
cancer care expenditure in order to: 
•	 Identify opportunities to move from low-value to high-value care
•	 Use data continuously to refine and evolve the plan
We have been sharing the lessons that we have drawn from this pilot with 
various stakeholders and other employers. By sharing our experience, we 
hope that this will help other employers to develop their own innovations to 
improve their employee health care plans and widen access to quality care. 
New access channels in low-and middle-income countries
Many underserved populations around the world rely heavily on the private 
sector for accessing health care. This is exacerbated in LMICs, where supply 
chain and distribution in these markets are often highly fragmented and 
multi-layered. To address these challenges, we are supporting local networks 
and leveraging technology solutions that optimize supply chains in resource 
constrained settings. For example, we are one of the sponsors of the 
Investing in Innovation (i3) initiative, a global network of industry players, 
donors and international organizations that seeks high-potential startups 
who aspire to transform the availability, accessibility, affordability, quality 
and visibility of health products at scale across Africa. 
Another example is our collaboration with a health care provider with a 
presence in 12 African countries. Through this partnership, we seek to 
reimagine the prevention, screening and treatment of cervical cancer 
across Africa. We are committed to working with the health care providers 
on disease awareness and in designing innovative access solutions to our 
medicines and vaccines by increasing affordability for more people. 
> Additional information on sustainable access strategies, solutions and partnerships 
can be found on the Sustainable Access website.
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Partnerships and collaborations to advance vaccination equity 
Inequitable access to vaccines and vaccination services threaten to stall and 
even reverse progress made in combating the spread of vaccine-preventable 
diseases (VPDs). Every year, 1.5 million deaths occur due to VPDs, particularly 
among historically marginalized groups and populations. We are committed to 
expanding access to our vaccines for people and communities around the 
globe. Among the specific actions we have taken with our vaccines are: 
•	 Collaborating with Gavi and UNICEF to expand global access to 
our vaccines 
•	 Obtaining approval in May 2022 from WHO for our HPV vaccines to 
be used outside the cold chain for up to four days, helping to enhance 
accessibility for hard-to-reach populations 
•	 Establishing a research and development collaboration with Hilleman 
Laboratories to bring forward a more thermostable, second-generation 
Zaire Ebolavirus vaccine candidate
•	 Developing an investigational vaccine for the prevention of dengue 
fever in collaboration with Instituto Butantan (IB). Under the agreement 
announced in December 2018, we and IB are sharing clinical data and other 
learnings from their respective dengue vaccine development programs
Collaboration with Gavi/UNICEF 
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) is a public-private partnership that helps 
vaccinate half the world’s children against some of our planet's deadliest 
diseases. According to its Annual Progress Report, since its inception 
in 2000 Gavi has helped to immunize a whole generation—reaching 
one billion children—and prevented more than 16.2 million future deaths. 
Gavi's work has cut child mortality in half in 73 lower-income countries.
Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting 
health systems and funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, 
meningococcal and yellow fever vaccines. As a permanent member of Gavi's 
board, and the world's biggest buyer and supplier of vaccines for developing 
countries, UNICEF has a pivotal role in implementing immunization programs 
in Gavi-supported countries and in shaping the Vaccine Alliance's policies. 
UNICEF's Supply Division procures the majority of Gavi-funded vaccines. 
It helps countries analyze and overcome obstacles to improving immunization 
coverage and equity, and works with WHO to support countries applying for 
and implementing health-system-strengthening grants. 
Our commitment to helping protect global health by improving the resilience 
of immunization programs and broadening access to our vaccines around 
the world is fundamental to our mission and highlighted through our long-
term commitment to Gavi and UNICEF. To broaden access to our Human 
Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which is indicated to help prevent HPV-related 
cancers and diseases, our Company provides this vaccine to the public sectors 
of countries that are eligible for support from Gavi at an access price that is 
significantly less than the value-based price in other countries.
Through a long-term agreement with UNICEF, we committed to provide over 
100 million doses of our HPV vaccine for use in Gavi-supported countries, 
from 2021-2025. In addition, through our agreement with UNICEF, we have 
built a 500,000 dose ERVEBO® stockpile, and continue delivering licensed 
doses to maintain the stockpile. As of March 2023, the vaccine has been 
approved in ten African countries. 
Finally, for 2021-2025, we committed to extend our current Gavi prices for 
our HPV vaccine to Gavi-graduated countries with a per-capita gross national 
income (GNI) not exceeding $3,200. This greatly assists in expanding and 
sustaining access in countries that have transitioned out of Gavi support. 
We believe that our pricing approach—in conjunction with our commitment 
to partner with stakeholders to strengthen resilience of immunization 
programs—contributes to broader access to our vaccines worldwide.
Expanding the reach of our innovations
We expand reach of our innovations to at-need population and patients—
including those in LMICs—through our access strategies and planning as well 
as programs and partnerships, taking into consideration unmet public health 
need, economic conditions and health care infrastructure.
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•	 We entered into advance purchase and supply agreements with the 
governments of more than 40 countries, and are currently in discussions 
with additional governments, implementing a tiered-pricing approach 
based on World Bank country income criteria to reflect countries’ relative 
ability to finance their health response to the pandemic
•	 We signed voluntary license agreements early on during the clinical 
development process, with multiple established Indian generic 
manufacturers and the Medicines Patent Pool to facilitate the availability 
of generic versions of our medicine to more than 100 low- and middle-
income countries
•	 We allocated up to three million courses of therapy to UNICEF for low-
and-middle-income countries as a “bridge strategy” until the voluntary 
licensees were able to supply
This strategy has been successful to minimize the gap between the supply 
to high income counties and the supply to LMICs.
We welcomed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s commitment of 
$120 million to accelerate access to generic versions of our medicine. 
This commitment complements our voluntary license agreements with 
generic manufacturers and highlights the importance of actions from 
multiple stakeholders to effectively increase timely access to medicines 
for patients globally. 
Through our licensing agreements with generics manufacturers and the 
Medicines Patent Pool, more than five million courses of generic therapy have 
been delivered to more than 20 low-and-middle-income countries included in 
the licenses from 2021-2022.
Donating medicines and vaccines when and where it's needed
When market-based solutions are inadequate or unavailable, we pursue 
programs to provide direct access to our medicines and vaccines, including 
product donations and patient assistance programs. In 2022, we reached 
over 359 million people with product donations through the MECTIZAN 
Donation Program, the U.S. Patient Assistance Program, and the MSD 
Medical Outreach Program (MMOP) for disaster relief and humanitarian aid.
Our pricing approach 
We have a long history of making our medicines and vaccines accessible 
and affordable through responsible pricing practices and industry-leading 
patient-access programs. 
We are working to bring our medicines and vaccines to more people around 
the world in ways that are as accessible and affordable as possible for the 
patients who need them. 
While each individual situation varies based on factual circumstances and 
market dynamics, generally we consider:
•	 Value provided to patients
•	 Value provided to health care systems
•	 Unmet need
•	 Access
•	 R&D sustainability
•	 Competition
U.S. product pricing 
In 2017, we began disclosing information about the price of our medicines in 
the U.S. Our 2022 U.S. Pricing Transparency Report shows an average annual 
net price increase of 4.3 percent in 2022. The average annual list price across 
our portfolio increased by 4.4 percent in 2022. The Company’s gross U.S. 
sales were reduced by 39.7 percent in 2022 as a result of rebates, discounts 
and returns.
> For more information on our approach to pricing, please see our U.S. Pricing 
Transparency Report which is available on the Transparency Disclosures page of 
our corporate website.
Voluntary licensing
In the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and realizing our opportunity 
to help meet a significant unmet medical need globally, including in under-
resourced settings, we implemented a multi-faceted strategy to facilitate 
timely access to our investigational antiviral COVID-19 medicine through 
our comprehensive supply and access approach that includes:
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People reached through donation programs
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Total estimated number of people reached through donation 
programs (millions)1 (including MECTIZAN)
403.6
403.7
268.3
197.3
359.2
Estimated number of people reached through the MECTIZAN 
Donation Program (millions)
403.0
403.0
267.8
197.0
358.9
Patients utilizing our U.S. Patient Assistance Program (millions)2
0.233
0.239
0.190
0.130
0.113
Estimated number of people reached through the MSD Medical 
Outreach Program (millions)3,4
0.349
0.458
0.283
0.139
0.119
1 People reached is defined as people who received a medicine or vaccine through the MECTIZAN Donation Program, U.S. Patient Assistance Program, or the MSD Medical Outreach Program. Estimated figures assume all 
product reached patients, and are based on converting volume of medicines and vaccines donated. This estimate calculates the number of people who accessed the treatment, and is therefore a sub-set of treatments approved. 
2 Totals represent 2018-2022 volumes of our U.S. Patient Assistance Program. Volumes vary across years based on changes in covered product offerings and changes across the health care landscape. Volumes in 2021 reflect a 
decline as a result of products transitioned to Organon & Co. in the 2021 spin-off.
3 Estimated figures, which assume all product reached patients, are based on converting volume of medicines and vaccines donated. Conversion factors for this estimate were developed using a combination of IQVIA SMART 
Data and U.S. product information found on our product website.
4 Decline in patients reached in 2021 and 2022 relative to 2020 and prior years is primarily due to the decreased availability of certain products offered for donation because they moved to Organon & Co. in the 2021 spin-off.
Product donations 
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Product donations through U.S. Patient Assistance Program 
(in millions)1
$1,242
$1,460
$1,603
$1,455
$1,685
Product donations for ex-U.S. programs and U.S. disaster relief 
(in millions)2,3,4
$1,464
$1,550
$1,280
$284
$97
1 Total contributions for 2021 include approximately $4.9 million for in-kind donations of PPE and other equipment in response to COVID-19 pandemic.
2 In 2021, we stopped reporting on the market value of donated MECTIZAN, leading in large part to a decrease in our overall reporting of the value of product donations for ex-U.S. programs.
3 Includes our Medical Outreach Program (including U.S. disaster relief), the MECTIZAN Donation Program and MSD division and subsidiary donations.
4 In 2022, OSBI donated products through MMOP to our NGO partners was valued at $66.2 million in support of the Ukraine crisis specifically and another $26.9 million was donated to other countries outside of the U.S. via our 
MMOP partnering NGOs.
has expanded over the years to include the treatment of lymphatic filariasis. 
Since the program’s inception, our Company has donated nearly five billion 
MECTIZAN treatments and has made significant impacts on health systems 
in some of the hardest-to reach communities around the world. The MDP is 
one of the most successful public-private health partnerships of its kind.
> For more information, please see the MECTIZAN story on our corporate website.
The MECTIZAN Donation Program
Our Company has committed to providing as much MECTIZAN as needed for 
as long as needed to treat river blindness through the MECTIZAN Donation 
Program (MDP) globally. The 35-year, global program is the longest-running 
disease-specific drug donation effort of its kind. Our donation commitment 
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MECTIZAN Donation Program
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Direct financial investment in the program (in millions)1,2
$2.20
$3.10
$2.74
$1.88
$2.12
Total treatments approved (in millions)
346
403
417
364
378
Treatments approved for river blindness (in millions)
111
131
139
105
213
Treatments approved for lymphatic filariasis (LF) in river blindness 
endemic countries (in millions)
140
141
141
95
64
Treatments approved for joint river blindness and LF programs 
(in millions)
83
71
75
101
39
Treatments approved for lymphatic filariasis (LF) in countries not 
endemic for river blindness2
12
60
62
63
62
River blindness endemic countries where elimination of LF has been 
validated by the World Health Organization (Target: 30)
1
2
3
3
3
Latin American countries where the elimination of river blindness 
has been verified by the World Health Organization (Target: 6)
4
4
4
4
4
N/A: Not available.
1 Direct investment includes operational support and grants.
2 Following our Company’s commitment in 2017 to expand the donation of MECTIZAN to support the implementation of triple-therapy for the elimination of LF in certain settings, the MECTIZAN Donation Program expanded in 
2018 to include donations for LF elimination in countries not endemic for river blindness.
Disaster relief
We are committed to supporting communities around the world that 
are affected by natural disasters and humanitarian crises. We look to 
local authorities and humanitarian relief agencies to first assess need 
and then respond in a timely, coordinated manner. We provide aid 
through financial and product donations to meet the immediate needs 
of affected communities.
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Disaster relief
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Total giving value of disaster relief contributions 
(cash and products, in millions)1,2,3
$10.2
$16.7
$20.3
$9.0
$100.3
1 Value includes donations made through the Office of Social Business Innovation (OSBI) as well as our Company's local regions.
2 We set the value of our product donations based on the U.S. wholesale acquisition cost.
3 2022 shows a significant increase over prior years due to product and cash donations to the Ukraine crisis. Value also includes relief for Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Fiona and support to the Red Cross' efforts.
Medical Outreach Program
The MSD Medical Outreach Program (MMOP) is the primary means through 
which we donate pharmaceuticals and vaccines for humanitarian assistance in 
the developing world and in support of disaster relief worldwide. The MMOP 
helps expand access to our products, particularly in developing countries, by 
donating pharmaceuticals and vaccines to a limited number of qualified, U.S.-
based NGO partners. The scope and reach of the MMOP varies from year to 
year and is influenced by changing medical needs in developing countries, the 
quantity of our medicines available for donation and the unpredictable nature 
of emergencies or disasters. 
As the war in Ukraine continues, we’re committed to getting life-saving 
support, medicines, vaccines and supplies to those who need them most. 
In 2022, we committed donations of more than $100 million in essential 
products and funds to various organizations, working in tandem with our own 
subsidiary in the region to ensure that refugees and those who remain inside 
the country have access to health care. 
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued through 2022, our Company donated 
100,000 courses of our investigational antiviral COVID-19 medicine to Direct 
Relief, a global humanitarian aid organization, for distribution to refugees, 
including 50,000 courses for people affected by the invasion of Ukraine.
> For more information, please visit the MMOP page on our corporate website.
Medical Outreach Program (MMOP)
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Countries and territories reached by the MMOP1,2
72
56
46
56
21
1 Distribution of product by country is managed and provided by third-party partners who provide the related reporting.
2 Decline in countries reached in 2022 relative to prior years is primarily due to the decreased availability of certain products offered for donation because they moved to Organon & Co. in the 2021 spin-off. 
Medicine Assistance Tool (MAT) 
As a demonstration of our commitment to helping low-income, uninsured 
patients gain access to MSD medicines and adult vaccines, we participate 
in the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s Medicine 
Assistance Tool (MAT). MAT is a free search engine designed to help 
patients, loved ones and health care providers access hundreds of public 
and private assistance programs. To date, this tool has helped millions of 
Americans in financial need get free or reduced-cost prescription medicines.
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Addressing barriers to health
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Further advance health equity by reaching 30 million people in LMICs 
and underserved populations in the U.S. with our social investments, 
by 2025 (in millions)1,2
N/A
N/A
N/A
15
18.6
Health care workers trained through major programs and 
partnerships (estimated in millions)2,3,4
0.067
0.068
0.078
0.099
0.316
Annual investment in partnerships, programs and impact 
investments that support health care capacity building and address 
underlying barriers to access to health (in millions)2 
$37
$63 
$49
$36
$38
People reached through investment in partnerships, programs 
and impact investment that support health care capacity 
building and address underlying barriers to access to health 
(estimate in millions)1,2,3
357
422 
285
212
378
1 Social investments include our Company's philanthropic partnerships, programs and impact investments. Underserved populations are defined as those that face health disparities due to disadvantages related to insurance 
status, social determinants of health, race, ethnicity, gender identity/sexual orientation, age and/or language preference. The goal is cumulative across the reporting period of 2021-2025, and is independent of a baseline period.
2 Third-party reporting is used to calculate the number of people reached through social investments. In some cases, third-party reports may include cumulative people reached for the reporting period, and/or data that is 
attributable to other partners as well as our Company's philanthropic investment.
3 Represents investments made by our Office of Social Business Innovation.
4 Increase in 2022 driven by MSD for Mothers training programs scaled through digital delivery and with integration into national training campaigns.
appropriate we align our investments with country and community-led priorities 
and partner with governmental, multilateral and nonprofit organizations. 
We reached more than 18 million people in LMICs and underserved 
populations in the U.S. in 2022 with our social investments, bringing our 
two-year total (2021-2022) to more than 33 million people, beyond our initial 
five-year goal of reaching 30 million people. We are further strengthening 
our longstanding commitment to advancing health equity by setting a more 
ambitious goal to reach 50 million people by 2025. 
In addition to the people we reach through our social investments, we also 
track health care workers trained through the initiatives we support—
extending impact for years to come. In 2022, our partners trained an 
estimated 316,000 health workers. This result includes a significant increase 
in health workers trained through our MSD for Mothers program as we 
continue to scale those efforts. 
Strengthening health systems and 
addressing inequity
In 2022, we invested $38 million in partnerships, programs and impact 
investments that support health care capacity building and address 
underlying barriers to access to health. These social investments accelerate 
our Company’s purpose of saving and improving lives by advancing global 
health equity, deploying our resources where and when needed, and 
creating long-term value for society and our business. We are improving 
cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment; strengthening the vaccination 
ecosystem; advancing maternal health and strengthening health systems to 
advance equitable health outcomes for all patients. 
We provide this support in several ways, including through philanthropic social 
investments, key initiatives and impact investing. To be most effective, where 
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Philanthropy and health equity
Our philanthropic investments help advance health equity around the world 
by addressing the barriers that many individuals face in seeking and receiving 
high-quality health care. 
Our approach to these investments is guided by these key principles: 
•	 Meeting critical global health needs where we can have a 
meaningful impact
•	 Promoting health equity by helping to reduce health disparities in 
underserved communities
•	 Collaborating with diverse partners across sectors to build healthier, 
stronger communities
•	 Leveraging our range of resources (financial, product and expertise) 
to improve population health outcomes
Established in 1957, our Foundation is funded entirely by our Company 
and is our chief source of financial support for qualified, eligible nonprofit 
organizations whose programs align with our philanthropic priorities. Since 
its inception, our Company and Foundation have supported innovative 
programs and partnerships to improve the health and well-being of people 
around the world. Through these programs, we believe that by working 
closely with others—governments, donors, patient groups, health care 
professionals, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, multilateral 
agencies and the private sector—we can help build stronger health systems 
that provide better and more equitable care.
Our Foundation has invested in programs that help people living with chronic 
conditions, including cancer, to receive high-quality health care. Over the past 
five years, we have supported efforts to increase timely access to patient-
centered care and reduce disparities in cancer care across the U.S. through 
the Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care. This $15 million 
initiative supports evidence-informed, multi-faceted programs to enhance 
the delivery of equitable cancer care in underserved communities across 
six U.S. cities.
Building on the successes of the Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered 
Cancer Care, the Foundation launched a new U.S.-based initiative in 2022—
the Alliance for Equity in Cancer Care—to address persistent disparities 
across the cancer care continuum and improve the delivery of high-quality, 
culturally-responsive care in underserved communities in the U.S. With a 
$20 million commitment over five years, the Foundation will support the 
development and implementation of innovative, comprehensive cancer care 
programs that can improve patient outcomes and help ensure equitable care 
by addressing access barriers related to social determinants of health.
The Foundation also supports programs that aim to improve the delivery of 
cancer care in low- and middle-income countries. Through a grant of nearly 
$2 million over five years, the Foundation is supporting the American Cancer 
Society to establish patient navigation programs in resource-limited settings 
in sub-Saharan Africa and develop a toolkit to help other countries adopt 
navigation programs as part of delivering comprehensive cancer care. 
> For more information on our philanthropy programs, please visit the 
Philanthropy page on our corporate website.
Our social investments are guided and approved by internal and external 
expert advisory bodies, including an internal advisory board for our 
Foundation, an internal Impact Investing Council, an internal Economic 
Inclusion, Workforce Development and Health Equity Council and external 
expert advisory committees for the MECTIZAN Donation Program and 
MSD for Mothers.
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Community engagement
We also recognize that our success depends in large part on our relationships 
and interactions with local communities, including patients, community 
leaders, nonprofit organizations, local businesses, schools, elected officials 
and local media. The communities where we operate are home not only to our 
customers but also to our workforce and many of our suppliers. It is critical 
to understand the concerns and needs of our communities and address local 
challenges so that we can help build stronger communities and support the 
sustainability of our business.
We contribute to the economy of local communities directly and indirectly 
through employment, training, support of local suppliers, local R&D and 
paying taxes. We also strive to have a positive impact on communities by 
protecting the environment, maintaining safe operations and respecting 
human rights.
Our community engagement programs aim to strengthen communities 
where our employees live and work by helping address critical health and 
social needs. The Solutions for Healthy Communities program—formerly 
known as the Neighbor of Choice program—seeks to catalyze innovation 
in community solutions that facilitate access to quality health care for 
underserved populations. This program invests in NGOs that are addressing 
cross-cutting barriers to heath care access in the global communities where 
we operate. 
Improving maternal health
Maternal health outcomes highlight the strength of a health system. In many 
countries, unacceptable and inequitable maternal health outcomes persist. 
MSD for Mothers is our $650 million global initiative to help create a world 
where no woman has to die while giving life. For a decade and counting, we 
have brought MSD’s scientific and business expertise to help carve a path 
to a better world where maternal health outcomes are more equitable, and 
pregnancy and childbirth are safer. 
Our efforts are focused on bringing fresh thinking and infusing new 
approaches to help end the longstanding challenge of maternal mortality. 
We focus on strengthening health systems to sustain the delivery of high-
quality maternity care services that benefit women and their communities. 
With our grantees and collaborators, we are improving health systems 
for women today and for the long term by advancing quality standards, 
catalyzing solutions that respond to community needs and harnessing 
private sector innovations for maternal health. 
> For more information, please visit the MSD for Mothers website.
Addressing cancer disparity
In addition to the philanthropic investments mentioned above, we are 
building a range of partnerships to strengthen cancer prevention, care and 
support systems to help improve health equity in underserved communities. 
In the U.S., we have supported the American Cancer Society’s Get Screened 
campaign, aimed at reducing existing disparities in cancer screening that 
have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, we support Historically Black 
Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) 
in “Going for Gold” to help improve health equity, education, navigation and 
access in communities disproportionately affected by cancer. 
Globally, we collaborate with City Cancer Challenge Foundation to improve 
equitable access to quality cancer care in nine cities around the world by 
strengthening patient navigation, care coordination and data capacity 
through the integration of digital platforms in health systems.
In working with Go Further, we have created a partnership that aims to 
reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in women living with HIV who reside 
in one of 12 African countries, which have some of the highest rates of HIV 
prevalence and cervical cancer incidence in the world.
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Impact investing and health equity
Impact investing is one of our core approaches to advancing sustainable 
global health solutions and health equity in line with our Company’s overall 
objectives. Through impact investing, we deploy financial resources in ways 
that may generate not only improved access to health care for underserved 
populations, but also financial returns and strategic opportunities—all while 
growing a sustainable global health ecosystem and attracting additional 
capital and partners. In addition, to support the sustainability of our work, 
we intend to direct any financial returns from our impact investing into new 
investments to grow our portfolio.
For example, our Company is an investor in Mamotest, a company providing 
AI-enabled telediagnosis for breast cancer and digital solutions for oncology 
patient support for women in Latin America. 
> For more information, please visit our Impact Investing page on our corporate 
website, as well as GRI 201-1 on page 51.
Embedding health equity capabilities across our Company
Our approach to health equity is key to our Sustainability and Global Diversity 
& Inclusion (GD&I) commitments, and is reflected in how business units 
across the enterprise are integrating health equity goals and capabilities in 
their business strategies and performance objectives.
These efforts are guided by an enterprise Health Equity Strategic Framework 
that lays out clear goals, and a roadmap with an implementation plan to 
guide how we integrate health equity across our core business functions 
and practices. In 2022, we launched a $1 million Health Equity Catalyst Fund 
to empower teams at the local and regional levels to create solutions that 
promote more equitable health outcomes and care experiences, particularly 
for populations who are underserved. The Health Equity Catalyst Fund is 
supporting 15 community-level efforts in 13 countries to remove barriers 
to care and/or strengthen health systems to deliver on high-quality and 
accountable care.
We are also investing in strengthening internal data capabilities so that we 
can apply social determinants of health data to support the design and rollout 
of effective solutions and partnerships, as well as track key metrics that help 
us to better understand the impact of our social investments. We support 
our employees so that they have the latest knowledge and data through 
the development of training resources, guidelines, tools and a collaborative 
health equity learning network.
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Procurement practices
Global Economic Inclusion & Supplier Diversity
Global Economic Inclusion & Supplier Diversity (EI&SD) is integrated into 
our overall Global Diversity & Inclusion (GD&I) strategy, and supports our 
corporate aspiration. Global Economic Inclusion and Supplier Diversity is a 
key priority of the GD&I Business Consortium (for more information, see 
GRI 405 on page 134).
The EI&SD Center of Excellence (CoE) is the epicenter of our Company’s diverse 
and inclusive procurement practices. We create economic opportunities for 
underrepresented communities by procuring products and services from 
minority-, women-, veteran-, LGBTQ+- and disability-owned enterprises. 
Our goals go beyond the amount of money we spend with small and diverse-
owned businesses, as we focus on the growth and development of our suppliers 
to drive economic impact and value delivery to our Company. We are committed 
to supporting the small and diverse businesses that are the economic engine of 
growth around the world through global economic inclusion.
Advanced Leadership Program for 
Diverse Suppliers
High-performing businesses not only build diverse workforces, but also 
effectively leverage talent to fully realize diverse perspectives. Part of 
leveraging diverse talent involves partnering with suppliers that understand 
how to lead and motivate others to achieve common goals, communicate 
strategies effectively and make sound financial decisions. The Advanced 
Leadership Program (ALP) for Diverse Suppliers provides an executive 
development opportunity for diverse business owners to enhance their 
leadership and business acumen to strengthen and grow their business.
Management approach
GRI 204	
Designed in collaboration with Drexel University and Diversity Alliance 
for Science (DA4S), this experiential development program focuses on 
application and is supported by evidenced-based research and practitioner-
industry experience. Participants have an opportunity to engage with Drexel 
University faculty, their peers, and organizational leaders from our Company 
in thought-provoking, facilitated discussions that enhance self-reflection 
and personal development while building relationships across the broader 
community network.
The ALP integrated-program modules support an overarching theme 
of growing and scaling small and/or diverse businesses by building the 
leadership abilities and business acumen of diverse business owners. Led by 
an interdisciplinary faculty and subject-matter-expert team, each module 
provides an experiential and applied approach to executive development. 
In addition, participants complete a Request for Proposal (RFP) Capstone 
Challenge that offers an invaluable experience through the coaching and 
feedback they receive on their presentations and overall performance. 
Topic areas include:
•	 Leadership, Communication and Teams
•	 Building Personal Brand and Storytelling
•	 Strategic Networking
•	 Digital Presence and Strategy
•	 Customer Digital Journey
•	 Digital Media Metrics and Measurement
•	 Financial Reporting, Planning and Budgeting
•	 Short-term and Long-term Business Decisions
•	 Intersecting Finance and Operations
•	 Operations and Production Planning
•	 Purchasing and Contract Management
In 2022, we had 15 diverse suppliers graduate from our second cohort. 
We are proud to continue with this program in 2023.
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Performance
In 2022, our spend with minority-, women-, veteran-, LGBTQ+- and 
disability-owned business enterprises represented 14 percent of our total 
procurement spend. 
$3.2 billion
in spending with diverse Tier 1 and 2 suppliers globally
Supplier diversity—Tier 1 (in millions)1
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Diverse-supplier spend: Global2
N/A
N/A
N/A
$2,858
$2,964
Diverse-supplier spend: U.S.
$2,111
$2,433
$2,270
$2,374
$2,269
Small-business spend: U.S.
$973
$979
$775
$1,027
$1,088
N/A: Not available.
1 Status as a diverse-supplier or a small-business supplier is validated at the time of spend with such supplier using applicable criteria.
2 Starting in 2021, our reports include global spend data.
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Second Tier Diverse Supplier Program
We have expanded our supplier diversity program through our Second Tier 
Diverse Supplier Program. In addition to monitoring our own purchases 
to ensure we have diverse suppliers providing quality goods and services, 
we also monitor our large Tier 1 suppliers to ensure the inclusion of diverse 
suppliers within their own supply chain as well. 
The overall objective is to encourage the development of sustainable 
opportunities for diverse suppliers to participate in the procurement process. 
The Second Tier Diverse Supplier Program serves as an enhancement to, 
and not as a replacement for, existing efforts aimed at increasing meaningful 
opportunities for diverse suppliers to participate at the Tier 1 level.
In 2022, 21 Tier 1 suppliers participated in our Second Tier Diverse Supplier 
Program, generating an impact of over $258 million through their inclusion 
and utilization of diverse suppliers for direct purchases on behalf of 
our Company.
Supplier Diversity—Tier 2 (in millions)
2020
2021
2022
Second Tier
$54
$115
$258
Impact spend in the U.S.1,2
Billion Dollar Roundtable
Our ongoing economic inclusion and supplier diversity efforts will enable 
us to continue our membership in the Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR), an 
exclusive industry organization that recognizes and celebrates corporations 
that achieve spending of at least $1 billion with minority-, women-, veteran-, 
LGBTQ+- and disability-owned enterprises headquartered in the U.S. 
and globally.
Our membership in the BDR allows us to share and access best practices 
in supply chain diversity excellence with other organizations that have 
also achieved this status. As part of our 35 years of inclusion and impact, 
we hosted the 2022 Billion Dollar Roundtable Summit with the theme, 
“The Future is Now: Supplier Diversity as a Force of Sustainability, 
Economic Equality and Societal Impact.” 
$2.269 billion
spending with diverse suppliers
$4.8 billion
economic impact through 
supplier diversity
30,405
jobs supported through small 
and diverse suppliers
$1.3 billion
earnings through jobs 
created/sustained
1 Based on 2022 data.
2 Billion Dollar Roundtable Economic Impact Study. University of Washington, Foster School of Business.
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The Summit provided another opportunity to chart a course for the bold and 
transformative steps that are urgently needed to ensure we are optimizing 
positive economic impact to some of our most distressed areas, sharing 
best practices and encouraging global partners to continue to deliver on 
our purpose. 
> To learn more about our involvement with BDR, please visit our corporate website. 
In addition to the Billion Dollar Roundtable, we work in partnership with 
others, including:
•	 Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Development Council 
(CAMSDC)
•	 Disability:IN
•	 European LGBTIQ Chamber of Commerce (EGLCC)
•	 Integrare—Integrare Centro de Integração de Negócios (Brazil)
•	 LGBT-owned Business Certification in Canada (CGLCC)
•	 Minority-owned Business Certification in Canada (CAMSC)
•	 Minority Supplier Development Council UK (MSDUK)
•	 National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
•	 National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
•	 National Veterans Business Development Council (NVBDC)
•	 South Africa Supplier Diversity Council (SASDC)
•	 SupplyNation (Australia)
•	 United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC)
•	 United States Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC)
•	 WBE Canada
•	 WeConnect International
•	 Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
Global Economic inclusion in South Africa
For more than 10 years, we have pursued economic inclusion and supplier 
diversity efforts outside of the U.S. as well. We believe that global supplier 
diversity can help foster inclusivity, drive innovation, expand market reach, 
reduce risks, comply with regulations and build a positive reputation. One 
example of our efforts outside of the U.S. is in South Africa, where we are 
proud to be creating a more sustainable and resilient supply chain while 
making a positive economic impact.
Despite the right to equality, not all people in South Africa are born into 
equal circumstances. The history of South Africa has resulted in an economic 
and opportunities disparity based on race, and has resulted in many Black 
people in South Africa continuing to experience economic marginalization 
in one of the world's most unequal societies. Broad-Based, Black Economic 
Empowerment (B-BBEE) is a government policy to advance economic 
transformation and enhance the economic participation of Black people in 
the South African economy.
B-BBEE related strategies that we establish help achieve this goal and 
ensure that our South African subsidiary is compliant with the government’s 
B-BBEE regulations while helping to transform South Africa. The B-BBEE 
program is also an important strategic enabler to our Company’s growth 
strategy in the region and key to addressing the significant unmet health 
needs of patients. Our efforts include a $756,000 grant through MSD 
for Mothers to Unjani Clinics. This clinic is a South African-based, low-fee 
primary health care organization that services patients in disadvantaged 
communities who cannot afford private health insurance, so that they can 
access basic services such as maternal health. As part of this grant, we 
supported the ACFS-Feeding Scheme, a nonprofit organization that provides 
meals, school materials, clothing and toiletries to 1,000 children from child-
headed households. These households are led by children largely due to the 
continuing challenges linked with HIV/AIDS. 
Furthermore, to address youth unemployment, which sits at a staggering 
59 percent in South Africa, we are a proud participant in the Youth Employment 
Service (YES) Initiative. This program seeks to connect talented and engaged 
young work seekers to various opportunities, and hosts its own biennial 
graduate development program, which has provided jobs to 30 youth since its 
inception in 2021. 
> For more information on our procurement practices and supplier diversity, please also 
see GRI 2-6 on page 35, GRI 308 on page 112, GRI 405 on page 134 and GRI 414 on 
page 145.
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Anti-corruption
Our corporate anti-corruption policy prohibits the offer, promise or giving 
of any payment or benefit at any time to an individual or entity for the 
purpose of improperly influencing decisions or actions with respect to our 
business. The policy also prohibits any act that may give the appearance 
of offering anything of value for a business advantage. It applies to direct 
engagements (i.e., those conducted by our Company) as well as to indirect 
engagements (i.e., those managed through a third-party intermediary or 
partner). There are additional divisional policies reinforcing these principles 
in connection with certain activities.
Our Business Partner Code of Conduct presents similar and consistent 
principles for our business partners. It states that business partners shall not 
offer pay, ask for or accept anything of value—or give the appearance that 
they do—in order to improperly influence decisions or actions with respect to 
any Company business or government activities. We expect all our business 
partners to adhere to these principles and operate in full compliance, 
including maintaining processes and procedures to prevent and detect 
corrupt activities.
Management approach
GRI 205	
Our Company is built on its reputation for ethics and integrity forged 
with health care professionals (HCPs), patients and other stakeholders. 
Bribery and corruption are illegal, tarnish a company's reputation, and 
undermine public trust. Offering or paying bribes or kickbacks is against 
the laws of the markets where we do business.
We are committed to observing the laws and regulations that govern 
our operations and activities wherever we do business. To that end, we 
maintain policies, procedures and processes that apply to Company activities 
involving transfer of value (TOV), including TOV to HCPs and third-party 
intermediaries that perform agreed-to services on our behalf.
We have a well-established global ethics and compliance program 
that is consistent with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical 
Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) Code of Practice requirements, as 
well as with other applicable regional or country industry codes of conduct, 
including those issued by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of 
America (PhRMA) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries 
and Associations (EFPIA).
Our Board of Directors and senior management, including our chief ethics 
and compliance officer, provide the foundational elements of leadership, 
accountability and structure to oversee the Company’s global ethics and 
compliance program. Our chief ethics and compliance officer reports directly 
to our CEO, and provides regular updates to senior leaders and the Audit 
Committee of the Board of Directors on key indicators of ethical culture and 
compliance and risk trends. This reporting structure supports transparent 
and independent communication of relevant risk information relating to 
ethics and compliance issues.
Our Company’s anti-bribery/anti-corruption program and policies give 
employees (and third parties with whom we engage) the awareness, 
knowledge and resources to operate with integrity and comply with 
applicable laws and regulations, and to understand that we will not tolerate 
any act, or even the appearance, of impropriety.
Communications and training on anti-corruption
GRI 205-2	
Annual ethics and policy certification
An important component of our corporate ethics and compliance program 
is our annual ethics and policy certification. The annual review process 
requires selected employees to certify adherence to the Code of Conduct 
and corporate policies on preventing bribery and corruption, antitrust-law 
compliance, conflict of interest and insider trading. These employees are also 
expected to regulate their outside activities to avoid any conflicts of interest 
and to certify, in writing, whether actual or potential conflicts of interest 
exist. Where potential conflicts are identified, the Office of Ethics will work 
with management to take actions to mitigate the potential conflict.
In addition, U.S.-based (including Puerto Rico) employees must certify 
compliance with our policy on the effects of exclusions, debarments, 
suspensions and health care-related criminal convictions, reporting and 
screening. The annual compliance certification process is supplemented 
by periodic market and regional risk-based discussions and ongoing risk 
data monitoring.
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Training is an important part of creating a strong ethics and compliance 
culture. To ensure that all employees understand our ethical expectations 
and principles, we provide an annual ethics and compliance training series 
that includes relevant content to enable employees to perform with integrity 
and to make appropriate value-based decisions in the course of their work.
In 2022, more than 99 percent of our employees completed assigned 
training on anti-bribery and anti-corruption. Supplemental training on anti-
bribery and anti-corruption is provided for employees who engage with non-
U.S. government officials. As our Company is headquartered in the U.S., with 
a global footprint, our employees in the Human Health Division outside of the 
U.S. are made aware of the implication of statutes like the Foreign Corrupt 
Practices Act.
Employees in the Human Health Division in the U.S. are also required to 
understand, among other things, their responsibilities under the Anti-
Kickback Statute, the U.S. Prescription Drug Marketing Act and applicable 
FDA promotional regulations.
Anti-competitive behavior
>99% employees
trained on anti-bribery and anti-corruption
Management approach
GRI 206	
Our Company believes that our customers—and society as a whole—benefit 
from fair, free and open markets. While ours is a competitive industry where 
it is important that we compete aggressively, it is equally important that we 
do so fairly, legally and based on the merits of our products and services.
Our interactions with customers, suppliers and competitors are governed by 
antitrust and competition laws, as well as corporate policies. We enforce these 
external and internal standards through our ethics and compliance program.
We recognize that our reputation for integrity, trust, honesty and fair 
dealing continues to be dependent on our ethical practices. Consequently, 
we want to make certain that the ways in which we promote customer 
choice, business relationships and business practices are positive and fair. 
Our professional sales representatives are guided by our policies to recognize 
that competitive advantage is gained through the merits of our products and 
services, never through unethical or illegal business practices.
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Approach to tax
GRI 207-1	
> For information on our tax strategy, the responsible party within our Company 
and our approach to compliance, please see our Global Tax Strategy on our 
corporate website.
Fostering pro-competition practices
We believe that our marketing, sales and advertising activities make an 
important contribution to medicine by informing our customers of treatment 
options based on the most recent scientific information and findings from 
rigorous clinical studies.
Our sales and marketing practices are governed by external laws and 
regulations and industry codes of conduct, our own global Code of 
Conduct, our corporate policies and procedures, and our ethics and 
compliance program.
Our ethics and compliance program addresses and seeks to prevent 
inappropriate practices, and we evaluate our policies and procedures as 
appropriate. Our practices are monitored and compliance is enforced, to 
ensure that our interactions with customers and consumers do not include 
making unsubstantiated competitive claims. Also, a part of the business 
requires the Company to communicate with policymakers and other 
stakeholders to address certain gaps in a market and promote patient 
access. In such interactions, we are careful not to develop tactics aimed at 
preventing or delaying access of generic products into the market, and such 
communications are governed by our marketing communications principles.
All new employees receive training and testing, and must be certified on 
relevant policies and our Company’s ethical operating standards. Although 
many of our employees who market and sell our medicines and vaccines 
have advanced scientific or medical degrees and backgrounds, all of our sales 
representatives must complete general sales and product training. Training is 
specific to the country where an employee is based and covers the scope 
of the employee’s responsibilities in ensuring compliance with applicable 
laws and regulations. We stress that if our employees are unsure about the 
appropriateness of the conduct that they ask for help. There are several 
places where employees can turn for assistance. 
Anti-competitive behavior
GRI 206-1	
The first option is to talk with their manager. If they do not feel comfortable 
with that course of action, the other resources they may contact are:
•	 Divisional Compliance Departments
•	 Office of Ethics
•	 Privacy Office
•	 Office of General Counsel
•	 Human Resources Department
•	 MSDethics.com
In addition to mandatory training on our Code of Conduct, employees receive 
training on other levels of business practice and compliance according to 
their roles and responsibilities. We evaluate and update the content for all 
marketing and sales training periodically to ensure that it remains relevant 
and current.
While antitrust and competition laws may differ in the countries where our 
Company operates, the fundamental principles remain the same. From a 
broad perspective, antitrust and competition laws are legislated to promote 
competitive markets with the notion that when competitors and sellers 
can compete effectively against each other, customers will be the ultimate 
beneficiary. All employees are educated on the overall principles and, with 
the help of the relevant legal and compliance functions, they are expected to 
carry out their duties in a pro-competitive manner while safeguarding and 
advancing the Company’s interests.
Tax
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Environmental
Materials
Management approach
GRI 301	
By using more efficient and innovative processing methods and technologies, 
we are reducing the amount of energy, water and raw materials we use to 
make our products, thereby minimizing the amount of waste we generate. 
We go to great lengths to ensure that our products are designed and made 
in a safe, effective and environmentally sound manner.
We deliver on this commitment by maintaining a highly trained and 
capable scientific staff, and by actively pursuing manufacturing process 
improvements that minimize environmental impacts. We have set 
environmental sustainability goals with concrete targets and timelines to 
demonstrate this commitment. To ensure that our knowledge stays current 
with that of thought leaders and experts in the industry, we also collaborate 
with external resources and industry groups, such as the American Chemical 
Society (ACS), the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and 
Associations (EFPIA) and Animal Health Europe (AHE).
Products
We conduct extensive testing of our products to identify and understand 
any potential safety, health and environmental hazards. We manage and 
communicate information about hazardous materials to keep our employees, 
contractors, transporters and other partners safe.
We are actively engaged in conversations on product stewardship to 
understand and act on the issues specific to our industry worldwide. 
We share best practices within the industry via our membership in the 
Conference Board Product Stewardship Council, the American Chemistry 
Council’s (ACC) Green Chemistry Initiative, the EFPIA, the International 
Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) and 
the ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable (ACS GCIPR). 
Our objective is to maintain compliance and assure supply of lifesaving 
medicines as we look to further minimize our future environmental footprint.
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Our Company also supports the development of science-based, cost-
effective and environmentally sound programs that promote the proper 
disposal of unused medicines and their packaging in accordance with 
regional requirements. 
> For more information, see our position statement on the responsible disposal 
of medicines, which can be found on our corporate website.
Governance
Our efforts in this area are overseen by our Green & Sustainable Science 
Steering Committee and our Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Council.
Programs and initiatives
Our chemists and engineers are trained in green design principles and are 
provided with tools and resources to help them develop manufacturing 
processes that use safer chemicals and reduced quantities of raw materials. 
We use innovations like nanotechnology to make our products more effective, 
while ensuring that product safety always remains of utmost importance.
Complying with chemical substance and product requirements is a top 
priority for us. We track numerous existing and emerging chemical control 
regulations that require us to register specific types of chemicals with the 
proper authorities. To meet these requirements, our scientists complete 
assessments of the environmental and human health risks of the substances 
with which we work and submit the required regulatory notifications. 
Additionally, we provide details on product use and risk-based control 
measures in accordance with applicable regulations.
Packaging
Our product stewardship program extends to our customers and patients 
through the design of effective, low-impact product packaging. 
These packaging materials serve a range of important purposes; the 
foremost is to protect the purity, efficacy and physical integrity of the 
products that reach our patients.
Packaging also helps ensure our products are used safely, conveniently and 
with adherence. Prescribing and educational information is conveyed at the 
point of purchase and packaging can include child-resistant access, tamper-
evident features and anti-counterfeiting features.
In addition to these critical packaging functions, we recognize the 
environmental impact of our packaging. After it has served its critical 
functions, packaging becomes our patient or caregiver’s waste and therefore 
must be accounted for.
We are actively re-imagining our approach to reducing the environmental 
impact of our packaging. We have developed a long-term roadmap 
to fundamentally change our business processes, including better 
prediction, quantification and verification of impact to drive changes in 
product, packaging and supply chain designs. We intend to integrate this 
roadmap into our ways of working, and ultimately use it to reduce our 
environmental impact. 
A foundational part of our path forward includes evolving how we measure 
and maintain packaging data to enable transparent, data-driven decision 
making. This includes:
•	 Reduction of packaging material mass
•	 Minimization or elimination of materials of concern 
•	 New materials research 
•	 Introducing more recycled content into our packaging
•	 Increasing the recyclability of our packaging systems 
We continue to use a simplified life cycle analysis tool as a standard business 
practice. All new human health packaging designs are reviewed in the 
development process to understand and minimize environmental impacts as 
much as possible, while still providing adequate protection for our products.
We continue to monitor global trends around packaging and packaging 
materials, and work to incorporate circular economy concepts into the critical 
functions of packaging for pharmaceuticals. 
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Governance
Environmental packaging is managed by the Global Pharmaceutical 
Commercialization and Global Pharmaceutical Operations areas of the 
Company with oversight from our Environmental Health and Safety Council.
In 2022, we responded to the CDP forest questionnaire for timber products, 
specifically for paper and secondary and tertiary packaging. CDP graded 
our disclosure with a C- “Awareness” rating, indicating that we have 
“Knowledge of impacts on, and of, forests issues”. According to CDP, our 
Company is among 57 percent of companies that reached “Awareness” level 
in our Activity Group (Biotech and pharma) for timber. We performed a gap 
assessment of our questionnaire response and developed a roadmap for 
improvements in this area over the next several years. We are in the early 
stages of our program development and are in the process of assessing the 
impact of other forest risk commodities.
Solvent use
Solvents play a key role in the research and manufacturing of our products, 
as well as in equipment cleaning. Because of their significance to our business 
and the life cycle impact they represent, we focus on designing our processes 
to minimize or avoid their use where practical. Where we do use solvents, we 
maximize efficiency and control them in our emissions, effluents and waste.
We have an active Green and Sustainable Science program (see page 28) 
to design our new processes using fewer, less toxic solvents and other 
hazardous materials, and to reuse and recycle more of the solvents we do use.
For cleaning our manufacturing equipment, we use water-based methods 
where they are as effective as solvents. At each of our manufacturing sites, 
we have engineers who are responsible for identifying and driving process 
improvement projects. When it is not practical to reuse regenerated solvents 
in our own production processes, we work with suppliers who recover the 
spent solvents for resale to other industries or safely burn them as a source 
of energy, where feasible. Any used solvents that leave our site as hazardous 
waste are managed at off-site facilities that are on our list of approved waste 
management sites.
Chemical management
A comprehensive and effective chemical management program is critical to 
the safety and protection of our employees, the communities in which we 
operate, and the environment.
We have put in place procedures, systems and processes to manage the 
approval, procurement, inventory, receipt, transfer, storage, use and disposal 
of chemicals at all of our sites. We provide our employees and others with 
information about the identities and potential hazards of the chemicals in our 
operations and final products through proper labeling of chemicals and the 
creation of safety data sheets.
Green and sustainable science
Green and sustainable science is the development and application of 
green chemistry principles and quantitative sustainability metrics and 
goals to the process of scientific inquiry. Our Company employs this 
framework because we recognize that our ability to meet our environmental 
sustainability goals is intrinsically linked to the creation of innovative and 
cost-efficient manufacturing processes with low environmental impact. 
Green and sustainable commercial chemical route development also helps 
to mitigate potential issues in the supply chain of tomorrow by reducing 
our raw material requirements today. Our Company’s objective in this space 
is to be the industry leader for the development of innovative, efficient, 
green and sustainable commercial syntheses of our small molecule active 
pharmaceutical ingredients (API) from sustainable commodity raw materials. 
We are also exploring ways to reduce the environmental impact of biologics 
and vaccine manufacturing.
Strategy
Our integrated strategy involves several stages and aims to provide 
innovative solutions rather than incremental improvements to historical 
practices. We see transformative science/engineering and innovation as 
critical enablers to developing sustainable, low-cost manufacturing processes 
that provide both environmental and economic benefits over the life cycle of 
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our products. We aim to develop the most efficient and sustainable processes 
at product launch, with the goal of minimizing material use and waste 
from our commercial manufacturing. Our Company utilizes an innovative 
“green-by-design” development strategy to progress from an initial early 
clinical supply route to a fully optimized and sustainable commercial 
manufacturing process.
Programs and initiatives
As part of our Green & Sustainable Science program, we calculate the 
process mass intensity (PMI) of our small molecule human health products. 
PMI represents the number of kilograms of raw materials (including water) 
used to produce one kilogram of an API, and indicates the efficiency by which 
we convert raw materials into final products. We use this metric internally to 
compare different manufacturing methods, identify process improvement 
opportunities and track our progress. 
We have developed a SMART (in-Silico MSD Aspirational Research Tool) 
PMI tool which provides ambitious, molecule-aware PMI targets for our 
API manufacturing processes. We routinely evaluate PMI at every stage to 
drive the development of all our new small molecule processes to achieve 
our aspirational goals for green and sustainable processes. For our large-
molecule processes, we are pioneering new modality-appropriate metrics 
which outperform PMI in their ability to recommend ways of reducing 
the environmental impact of biologics and vaccine manufacturing. We 
are also using streamlined life cycle analysis tools to further evaluate the 
environmental impacts of our processes. 
American Chemical Society's Green 
Chemistry Institute
We are a founding member of the American Chemical Society's (ACS) Green 
Chemistry Institute® (GCI) Pharmaceutical Roundtable, a partnership between 
the ACS GCI and member pharmaceutical companies. The Roundtable drives 
the advancement of education and research on new ways to apply green and 
sustainable science to pharmaceutical discovery and manufacturing. This is 
done through the development of industry-wide sustainability metrics, tools 
and technologies. 
Awards and recognition in green chemistry
Since the establishment of the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards by 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Chemistry 
Society (ACS) in 1996, we have been recognized with nine Green Chemistry 
Awards for innovative process improvements with six of those consecutively 
since 2017. The Green Chemistry Challenge Awards have been sponsored 
by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and/or ACS, and we are 
proud to have been recognized. In 2022, we were recognized for developing 
a greener process to manufacture our investigational antiviral COVID-19 
medicine. Lastly, our Company has been honored by ACS as the winner of 
the Peter J. Dunn Award for Green Chemistry & Engineering Impact in the 
Pharmaceutical Industry for the last three years. 
> Learn more about the Green Chemistry Awards and how we are safeguarding the 
environment through green chemistry on our corporate website. 
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Management approach
GRI 302	
We recognize the important role we play in identifying, adapting and 
responding to the public health risks associated with climate change, such 
as threats to clean air and water, insufficient food supplies and the spread of 
disease. Our longstanding support of stronger health systems in underserved 
areas is even more important given the evidence that certain disease 
patterns are associated with changing climate conditions.
Energy-demand reduction and the utilization of renewable energy are an 
essential part of our climate mitigation strategy, as it positively impacts our 
efforts to reduce our direct GHG emissions.
Energy
Programs and initiatives
We have established internal policies and practices focused on reducing energy 
use at our sites. We will achieve this by optimizing systems and equipment, 
consolidating excess facility space when possible and designing with the 
environment in mind. In addition, we have launched initiatives to understand 
and reduce our supply-chain-related impacts. By taking these steps, we are 
not only minimizing GHG emissions but also reducing our operating costs and 
mitigating the business impacts associated with climate change.
Our manufacturing facilities, warehouses, laboratories, offices and vehicle 
fleet are the primary targets of our energy-demand-reduction programs, as 
they represent the majority of our energy consumption. Our Global Energy 
& Sustainability Center of Excellence (CoE) supports sites by providing them 
with tools, best practices and access to funding for energy saving projects. 
> For further information on our Sustainability Capital Fund, please see GRI 201-2 on 
page 52. 
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Renewable energy
We have committed to sourcing 100 percent of our purchased electricity from 
renewable energy by 2025. Photovoltaic (PV) arrays, wind turbines and other 
renewable-energy installations avoid emissions, help reduce energy demand 
peaks and postpone or preclude adding new power plants. We continually 
look for opportunities for new on-site installations, vendor-supplied 
renewable energy through the electrical grid and virtual power purchase 
agreement (VPPA) and power purchase agreement (PPA) projects.
As of early 2023, our continued efforts at renewable energy procurement 
since 2019 have resulted in a total of 208 MW of VPPA and PPA 
commitments. The regional breakdown of these commitments is as follows: 
•	 North America: 118 MW 
•	 Europe: 85 MW
•	 Asia Pacific: 4.6 MW 
In addition to these commitments, a 7.3 MW solar PV array installation was 
completed at a site in Ireland in 2022. This array is providing 20.6 percent of 
the total site demand. 
Vehicle fleet
Approximately seven percent of our total energy use is associated with our 
vehicle fleet. We have a roadmap to transition to a full battery electric vehicle 
(BEV) fleet. The implementation depends on the availability of like-for-like 
electric vehicles (EV) and the development of public charging infrastructure. 
Our current emphasis includes introducing hybrid vehicles as a bridge in Latin 
America and Asia Pacific/Japan (APJ), deploying EVs in mature European, 
Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) markets, and starting EV pilots in North 
America. Currently, these vehicles account for 18 percent of our fleet in 
EMEA; 59 percent in APJ; and 1 percent in Latin America and North America. 
However, the worldwide vehicle supply shortage has slowed our transition.
Facilities
To support our sites’ energy reduction plans, we have created a Low Carbon 
Transition Playbook (LCTP). The LCTP was the result of a cross-functional 
effort at our Company that pulled together experts into a “design-thinking” 
workshop organized to develop strategies to reduce GHG emissions. 
The LCTP includes a gap assessment for sites to evaluate the maturity of 
their energy programs and helps create short- and long-term plans to reduce 
sites’ carbon intensity and build toward a low carbon future. 
All new laboratories, offices and major renovations are built following cost-
effective and energy-efficient practices, and are designed to meet the 
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, 
or a comparable country standard (e.g. Building Research Establishment 
Environmental Assessment Method [BREEAM], Excellence in Energy 
Efficiency Design [EXEED], Haute Qualité Environnementale [HQE], etc.). 
Offices and laboratories are expected to achieve LEED Gold certification at 
a minimum. 
Construction at our sites over the past few years has resulted in two recent 
laboratories receiving LEED gold ratings, one in the U.S. and one in Europe.
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Total energy use
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Total energy use (GJ)
18,274,900
17,710,000
17,182,600
17,224,600
 17,516,000 
Scope 1 and location-based Scope 2 energy use 
(% of total)1
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Natural gas (Scope 1)
62%
62%
64%
62%
63%
Renewable energy generated and used on site (Scope 1)2
0.06%
0.07%
0.06%
0.06%
0.09%
Fleet fuel (Scope 1)
10%
9%
7%
7%
7%
Fuel oil (Scope 1)
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
Biofuel (Scope 1)
0.7%
0.6%
0.7%
0.8%
0.2%
Spent solvents (Scope 1)
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Coal (Scope 1)
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Purchased electricity (Scope 2)3,4
22%
23%
23%
25%
24%
Purchased steam (Scope 2)
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
Note: We have defined “purchased electricity” as electricity sourced from external suppliers as well as renewable electricity that was generated and utilized on site where we retained the renewable attributes or where we have 
obtained renewable attributes through contract. 
1 May not add to 100 percent due to rounding. 
2 Includes solar, wind and other renewables generated on site where renewable energy credits or guarantees of origin have been retained or retired.
3 Reported using Scope 2 location-based value in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. 
4 Includes solar, wind and other renewables generated on site where renewable energy credits (RECs) have been sold.
Energy reductions
GRI 302-4	
Energy consumption within the organization (Scopes 1 & 2)
GRI 302-1	
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Scope 1 and market-based Scope 2 energy use 
(% of total)1
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Natural gas (Scope 1)
62%
62%
64%
62%
63%
Renewable energy generated and used on site or purchased (Scope 1)2
2%
6%
9%
10%
10%
Fleet fuel (Scope 1)
10%
9%
7%
7%
7%
Fuel oil (Scope 1)
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
Biofuel (Scope 1)
0.7%
0.6%
0.7%
0.8%
0.2%
Spent solvents (Scope 1)
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Coal (Scope 1)
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Purchased electricity (Scope 2)3,4
20%
17%
14%
15%
15%
Purchased steam (Scope 2)
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
1 May not add to 100 percent due to rounding. 
2 Includes solar, wind and other renewables generated on site where renewable energy credits or guarantees of origin have been retained or retired. 
3 Reported using Scope 2 market-based value in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
4 Includes solar, wind and other renewables generated on site where renewable energy credits (RECs) have been sold.
In 2022, our sites’ fuel usage and purchased electricity consumption 
increased due to capital expansion, but our purchased steam and biomass 
consumption decreased due to boiler efficiency initiatives.
In March 2023, the U.S. EPA again recognized our Company with our 16th 
consecutive Sustained Excellence Award. This is also the 18th consecutive 
year in which we have been recognized by ENERGY STAR for excellence in 
energy management.
In 2023, we continued to successfully use ENERGY STAR benchmarking tools 
such as the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to obtain the ENERGY STAR 
Certified Building label for four buildings.
Our Puerto Rico facility was awarded the ENERGY STAR Pharma Energy 
Performance Indicator (EPI) for superior energy efficiency and environmental 
performance among U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing plants for the 14th 
consecutive year.
> For more information, please see GRI 305-5 on page 103. Our CDP Climate Change 
Questionnaire is available on CDP’s website. 
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Water and effluents
The Environmental Review Committee provides oversight in establishing our 
internal Environmental Quality Criteria (EQC) standards.
> For more detailed information on our environmental management and governance, 
please see the Environmental Health and Safety Management and Governance 
document on the Sustainability Resources page on our corporate website.
We have established water goals to help us manage water-related risks in 
our operations.
Management approach
GRI 303	
As we strive to meet the health needs of our patients, we understand that 
we may encounter water risks in the areas in which we operate. Our global 
water strategy aims to achieve sustainable water management within our 
operations and our supply chain, which supports UN SDG 6: Clean Water 
and Sanitation.
To achieve these strategic objectives, we are focusing on the following 
commitments:
•	 Ensuring that our wastewater discharges comply with local and national 
standards, as well as internal requirements
•	 Understanding and controlling our operational water footprint
•	 Managing water risk at our facilities and in our supply chain
•	 Reporting publicly on our water use and goals
In our Business Partner Code of Conduct, we request that suppliers 
conserve natural resources and engage in activities aimed at reducing water 
usage. We also ask that they have systems in place to quantify the amount of 
water used.
> For more information on supplier engagement on water related topics, please see 
GRI 308 on page 112.
Governance
Each site is responsible for management of water resources. Water 
management is overseen globally by the Water Center of Excellence 
(CoE). This CoE reviews water data to monitor sites’ progress and provides 
assistance as needed to support sites’ work towards meeting our goals.
Goal
Stewardship 
We have endorsed the UN CEO Water Mandate, a public commitment to adopt 
and implement a comprehensive approach to water management, and we have 
aligned our water program with its principles. CEO Water Mandate endorsers 
have a responsibility to make water resource management a priority and to 
work with governments, UN agencies, NGOs, local communities and other 
interested parties to address global water challenges. We continue to work to 
identify partnerships that will help us advance our water stewardship priorities 
in the areas in which we operate. These projects also support the goals of 
SDG 15, which strives to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of 
terrestrial ecosystems.” We report our water security annually through CDP. 
In 2022, CDP graded our disclosure with a B- “management” rating, indicating 
that we “provide evidence of actions associated with good environmental 
management” and are “taking coordinated action on water security.”
We will maintain global water 
use at or below 2015 levels.
Target Year: 2025
Performance in 2022
3.9 million m3 reduction 
(17% below 2015 levels)
Water goal
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In 2022, through The Nature Conservancy (TNC) we supported the 
implementation of green stormwater infrastructure projects in the Delaware 
River watershed. This was done in collaboration with private, community-
based landowners such as affordable housing providers, schools and social 
service institutions, along with the Philadelphia Water Department. 
The project aims to reduce stormwater runoff and improve water quality to 
help make the Delaware River and its tributaries more swimmable, fishable 
and drinkable for millions of residents in the region.
Green stormwater infrastructure presents an attractive and effective water 
quality solution using tangible, on-the-ground, nature-based projects―rain 
gardens, permeable pavements, green roofs, pocket parks, planters and 
other water-slowing, natural solutions―to keep stormwater runoff out of 
sewer systems, rivers and streams while adding safe, beautiful, green spaces 
to communities.
The contribution to TNC will support the design and implementation of 
projects across multiple blocks in the city that will filter stormwater pollution, 
restore urban habitat, create new green spaces, and provide many other 
layered benefits to residents. Our West Point, Pennsylvania facility is located 
within the Delaware River watershed and this project demonstrates our 
commitment to collective action in the catchments where our manufacturing 
sites operate. As a result of COVID-related delays, the project is taking place 
in 2023. 
In 2021, through TNC, we supported a watershed conservation project in 
Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil with a $100,000 contribution to the Belo 
Horizonte Water fund, led by the Agencia Peixe Vivo. As a result of COVID-
related delays, the project was completed in 2022. This TNC-sponsored 
project promotes governance strengthening of local partners to enable the 
restoration of native forest, implement soil conservation techniques, make 
improvements to dirt roads and conserve existing forests in the Juramento 
River watershed. The Juramento River is a source of potable water for 
the City of Montes Claros, and the water security at our manufacturing 
operations in Montes Claros is directly impacted by this project.
TNC and partners expect that this project will improve water security in the 
city of Montes Claros through:
•	 Increasing rainwater infiltration
•	 Creating a more stable outflow of water over the course of the year
•	 Reducing erosion and sedimentation
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Access to clean water is critical for human health and is a key input to our 
manufacturing operations. We assess water risk throughout our network 
as a standard business practice.
Our process is as follows:
1.	 The World Resource Institute’s (WRI) Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas tool is 
used as an initial step to map water risk. Sites are categorized annually 
using the “Baseline Water Stress” indicator, which is the ratio of total 
annual water withdrawals to total annual renewable supply and accounts 
for upstream consumptive use. Higher stress values indicate more 
competition among water users.
2.	 Sites that are identified as high risk are further assessed utilizing 
a catchment-specific approach to confirm that the catchments are 
experiencing high water stress
3.	 Sites that are known to experience water risk, regardless of the Aqueduct 
Water Risk Atlas tool assessment, are included as high-risk sites
4.	 Water conservation plans are put in place at high-risk sites that use more 
than 100,000m3 of water per year. We work with a third-party water use 
expert to evaluate opportunities for water use reductions at these sites, 
resulting in site-specific water conservation plans.
5.	 Sites that do not meet the water use threshold will continue to be 
monitored for operational risk and conservation plans will be put in 
place as needed
Performing this assessment ensures that we can adapt our strategy to 
changing stressors in each catchment. It enables us to better prioritize 
facilities and catchments for water stewardship activities and lays the 
foundation for potential future water targets in priority locations. 
In 2022, the WRI tool identified four of our manufacturing and/or research 
facilities as being in areas with “extremely high” Baseline Water Stress, and 
12 as being in areas with “high” Baseline Water Stress. In 2022, there were 
two more sites in areas of “extremely high” and four more sites in "high" 
risk than in 2021 due to sites coming in and out of the network. As a result 
of the above methodology, we continue to have two sites that have water 
conservation plans in place. 
The sites that use the most water in our network are located in the U.S. 
Of these, two are in areas of “high” Baseline Water Stress according to 
the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas tool but, through the assessment process 
described above, are considered medium risk.
Water as a shared resource
GRI 303-1	
Water discharge-related impacts
GRI 303-2	
We conduct environmental risk assessments on our products (small molecules, 
biologics and vaccines) from the development phase through product launch, to 
understand and manage product impacts both from manufacturing and patient 
use. We assess products in a manner consistent with the most stringent 
applicable global regulations, including the regulatory review processes of 
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. 
Product environmental safety profiles are reassessed during periodic renewals 
of product filings, and risk-mitigation actions are implemented when needed.
We use the information from our risk assessments to establish or update 
our internal, compound-specific EQCs, which are used to confirm that 
wastewater discharged from our facilities does not contain levels of residual 
products that present a risk to human health or the environment. Our 
manufacturing facilities are required to use these EQCs, along with industry-
accepted risk assessment methods, to establish procedures for managing 
and controlling active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in their wastewater.
Each facility uses the internal EQC standards to:
•	 Assess the potential risk from its operations using science-based 
and industry-accepted risk assessment methods
•	 Minimize environmental impacts from wastewater discharges in 
the local watershed
•	 Establish procedures for managing, treating or controlling APIs in 
wastewater prior to discharge where needed 
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Our facilities have, or will be provided with, API-treatment technology such 
as advanced oxidation where needed, so that our wastewater discharges 
meet both regulatory requirements and these internal standards.
We also provide wastewater discharge criteria to suppliers that manufacture 
pharmaceutical compounds for us and have initiated detailed assessments of 
our suppliers to better understand and address potential impacts.
As a member of the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Alliance and signatory 
to the Industry Roadmap for Progress on Combating AMR, we are working 
to deliver on our commitments to reduce the environmental impacts from 
antibiotic residues in wastewater through implementation of the AMR 
Alliance Common Antibiotic Manufacturing Framework. We have reviewed 
the operations of our human health antibiotic manufacturing facilities and 
third-party human health antibiotic suppliers to assess their wastewater 
treatment controls. We have developed a mechanism for transparently 
demonstrating that our supply chain meets the standards in this framework, 
which was presented in the AMR Industry Alliance Progress Report.
We participate in efforts to address water-discharge-related impacts with 
various organizations, including the European Federation of Pharmaceutical 
Industries and Associations (EFPIA). The EFPIA, Medicines for Europe and 
the Association of the European Self-Medication Industry (AESGP) have 
worked together to develop the Eco-Pharmaco-Stewardship (EPS) initiative. 
The EPS initiative considers the environmental impacts of a medicine 
throughout its entire life cycle, and addresses the roles and responsibilities 
of all parties in managing those impacts. This includes public services, the 
pharmaceutical industry, environmental experts, doctors, pharmacists 
and patients.
> For more information on our supply chain, please see section GRI 2-6 on page 35.
Please refer to the following resources for additional information related to 
water stewardship and related discharge impacts on our corporate website:
•	 Public policy statement: Water Stewardship
•	 Public policy statement: Pharmaceuticals in the Environment
•	 Global Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan
•	 CDP Water Security
•	 Business Partner Code of Conduct
Water withdrawal
GRI 303-3	
Water use by source (million m3)¹
2015
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Groundwater
12.0
10.3
10.2
10.1
9.7
10.1²
Third-party water
7.1
7.2
6.9
7.0
7.1
7.1²
Total surface water
3.9
2.3
2.6
2.9
2.6
2.0²
Total3
23.0
19.8
19.7
20.0
19.3
19.1²
ERM CVS provided limited assurance of select 2022 greenhouse gas and water data included in this report and submitted to CDP. To view the ERM CVS limited assurance statement for our environmental data, please visit the 
Sustainability Resources page of our corporate website. The limited assurance engagement was performed in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements ISAE 3000.
1 In accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, prior-year data have been adjusted to add or remove facilities that have been acquired and sold. 2015 data is presented as a baseline year to demonstrate progress against our 
goal in addition to the most recent five years data.
2 Externally assured by ERM CVS. Total pumped water withdrawal is the total of Groundwater and Surface water, 12.11 million m3.
3 All values above are rounded to one decimal place. As a result, the total values shown may not equal to the sum of the individual source totals. 
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Water use by risk in the following tables is categorized according to data 
obtained via the WRI Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas tool and our internal 
risk assessment.
Water use and risk by 
region (million m3)—
WRI Aqueduct Risk 
Tool output (2022)
Extremely 
High
High
Med to High
Low to Med
Low
N/A
Total water 
use by region
% of Total
North America
0.01
2.27
2.91
9.57
0.42
0.05
15.23
80%
Europe, Middle East and 
Africa
0.03
0.39
0.03
0.43
1.52
0.16
2.56
13%
Asia Pacific
0.01
0.00
0.08
0.00
0.96
0.11
1.16
6%
Latin America
0.00
0.10
0.00
0.00
0.03
0.03
0.16
1%
Total1
0.06
2.76
3.02
10.00
2.92
0.35
19.11
100%
N/A: Not available.
1 All values above are rounded. As a result, the total values shown may not equal the sum of the individual source totals.
Water use in areas of high to extremely 
high water risk by region (million m3)—
WRI Aqueduct Risk Tool output (2022)
Groundwater
Fresh surface 
water
Salt or brackish 
surface water
Third-party 
water
Total1
North America
0.34
0.00
0.00
1.94
2.28
Europe, Middle East and Africa
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.39
0.42
Asia Pacific
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.01
0.01
Latin America
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.07
0.10
Total1
0.40
0.00
0.00
2.41
2.81
1 All values above are rounded. As a result, the total values shown may not equal the sum of the individual source totals.
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Water use in areas of high to extremely 
high water risk by region (million m3)—
after internal risk assessment methodology (2022)
Groundwater
Fresh surface 
water
Salt or brackish 
surface water
Third-party 
water
Total1
North America
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Europe, Middle East and Africa
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Asia Pacific
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.64
0.64
Latin America
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.07
0.10
Total1
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.71
0.74
1 All values above are rounded. As a result, the total values shown may not equal the sum of the individual source totals.
Our water use reduction initiatives include:
•	 Consideration of water use in process design
•	 Cooling system optimization
•	 Prompt repairs and maintenance of steam distribution systems and traps
•	 Recovery and reuse of steam condensate and “reject water”
•	 Process water purification system optimization
•	 Avoiding the use of water in mechanical seals, such as those in pumps
An innovative project was completed in 2022 to reduce water consumption 
from cooling towers at our Singapore West manufacturing facility. 
The project involved utilizing air conditioning condensate as make-up 
water for cooling towers to reduce third-party water usage. To mitigate 
the potential for corrosion and bacterial growth, a new water chemistry 
control skid was installed to ensure there was no impact to the cooling water 
chemistry. With the completion of this project, the site, which is located in 
a water stressed area, surpassed its water reduction target for 2022 and 
is currently projected to meet the site’s 2025 goal as well. This project was 
recognized internally for its innovation and collaboration. 
> For information on the specific water sources affected in areas experiencing high 
and extremely-high water risk, please see our CDP Water Security response. For 
our water assurance letter, please visit the Sustainability Resources page on our 
corporate website.
In 2022, we used approximately 19.1 million cubic meters of water globally, 
versus 23.0 million cubic meters in 2015, representing a 17 percent reduction 
in water use. Water withdrawal is variable based on manufacturing and 
research activities year to year.
Approximately 10 percent of the total water we used in 2022 was supplied 
from surface water sources, and 53 percent was supplied by groundwater 
water sources, with the balance sourced from third-party water supplies. 
Our sites employ a variety of technologies and techniques aimed at reducing 
our water footprint and improving operational performance.
Closed-loop cooling systems, which reduce freshwater use, are employed at 
many of our facilities worldwide. Reverse osmosis (RO) “reject water” is reused 
for non-potable and non-process applications such as cooling tower feed water. 
In all, 1.0 million cubic meters of water was recovered, reused or recycled at our 
facilities in 2022, which is equivalent to five percent of our total water use.
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GRI 303-3

In the following tables, water discharge by receiving water body risk is 
categorized according to data obtained via the WRI Aqueduct Water Risk 
Atlas tool and our internal assessment. We understand that following the 
annual assessment, site water risk categorization could change.
Water discharge
GRI 303-4	
Total water discharge by region 
(million m3) (2022)1
Fresh surface 
water
Salt or brackish 
surface water
Groundwater
Third-party 
water 
Total water 
discharge 
by region2
% of total
North America
8.39
0.00
0.00
3.62
12.01
79%
Europe, Middle East and Africa
0.57
0.13
0.00
1.63
2.33
15%
Asia Pacific
0.04
0.02
0.00
0.67
0.72
5%
Latin America
0.01
0.00
0.00
0.12
0.13
1%
Total1
9.00
0.14
0.00
6.04
15.193
100%
1 All values exclude rainwater.
2All values above are rounded. As a result, the total values shown may not equal the sum of the individual source totals.
3 Externally assured by ERM CVS.
Water discharge in areas of high to extremely 
high water risk, by region (million m3)—
WRI Aqueduct Risk Tool output (2022)1
Fresh surface 
water
Salt or brackish 
surface water
Groundwater
Third-party 
water
Total2
North America
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.36
1.36
Europe, Middle East and Africa
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.37
0.37
Asia Pacific
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.01
0.01
Latin America
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.08
0.08
Total1
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.82
1.82
1 All values exclude rainwater.
2All values above are rounded. As a result, the total values shown may not equal the sum of the individual source totals.
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Water discharge in areas of high to extremely 
high water risk, by region (million m3)—
after internal risk assessment methodology (2022)1
Fresh surface 
water
Salt or brackish 
surface water
Groundwater
Third-party 
water
Total2
North America
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Europe, Middle East and Africa
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Asia Pacific
0.00
0.02
0.00
0.34
0.35
Latin America
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.08
0.08
Total1
0.00
0.02
0.00
0.42
0.43
1 All values exclude rainwater.
2All values above are rounded. As a result, the total values shown may not equal the sum of the individual source totals.
Wastewater from our facilities is managed and treated to meet regulatory 
standards and minimize environmental impacts prior to discharge. On-site 
wastewater treatment facilities are operated at many of our production and 
research facilities. 
Where on-site treatment is not provided, wastewater is discharged to 
external wastewater treatment facilities that have the technology and 
capacity to treat our wastewater. As described in GRI 303-2 on page 94, 
many of our production facilities are equipped with advanced wastewater 
treatment technologies to ensure that our facilities meet both regulatory 
requirements and the internal standards required by our EQC Program.
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CONTINUED:	
GRI 303-4

Biodiversity
Animal Health and biodiversity
Our Animal Health business supports environmental sustainability by 
advancing the health of animals. Healthy animals use natural resources more 
productively. The business also supports biodiversity and conservation across 
both aquatic and terrestrial landscapes by:
•	 Monitoring numerous aquatic species by utilizing passive integrated 
transponder (PIT) tags
•	 Allowing accurate estimations of wild populations, survival rates and 
migration patterns 
•	 Tracking invasive species by helping researchers assess how these animals 
distribute throughout the environment and interact with native flora 
and fauna
•	 Providing solutions as tools in recovery and conservation of aquatic 
species such as salmon, steelhead/rainbow trout, and freshwater 
fish populations
•	 Collecting and providing key information in research of sea turtles, 
salamanders, abalone, penguins and bats 
> See our story on biodiversity on our corporate website for more information. 
Significant impacts of activities, products, and services 
on biodiversity
GRI 304-2	
We recognize that protecting biodiversity is important to the planet and our 
Company’s growth. At present, we have not measured the impacts we have 
on biodiversity either directly or indirectly through our products. We do, 
however, have a long history of responsibly managing pharmaceuticals in the 
environment in an effort to prevent and reduce pollution in the areas in which 
we operate, protecting species and ecosystems from harm. Please see policies 
related to Pharmaceuticals in the Environment and Water Stewardship on our 
corporate website.
We are developing a strategy to better understand if the sourcing of certain 
inputs to our products potentially contribute to global deforestation. 
This assessment is in support of our CDP Forest response, which includes 
high-risk deforestation commodities such as timber, palm oil derivatives, 
soy, cattle by-products and rubber. The results of this assessment will be 
incorporated into our responsible sourcing strategy.
Each of our sites in Ireland has developed a biodiversity team to perform 
biodiversity assessments. These sites worked with external biodiversity 
professionals to identify areas that could be improved from a biodiversity 
perspective, with particular emphasis on pollinators such as wild bees and 
butterflies. As a result of our commitment to these actions, we are delighted 
to announce that all five of our Ireland sites are business members to the 
All-Ireland Pollinator Plan (AIPP).
The AIPP is run by the National Biodiversity Data Centre and aims to reverse 
the dramatic downward trend in the number of pollinators in Ireland over 
the past decade by supporting businesses, communities and individuals to 
take small actions to help Ireland's native pollinators. A number of actions 
have taken place at our Ireland sites to support AIPP, which include planting 
pollinator-friendly gardens, installing a bug hotel and bee hives, reducing 
cuttings, and restoring and/or protecting native ecosystems on site.
Habitats protected or restored
GRI 304-3	
Since 2016, as part of our UN CEO Water Mandate commitment, we have 
invested annually in habitat restoration and/or reforestation projects that 
improve water quality, restore biodiversity and remove carbon dioxide 
from the atmosphere. Working with organizations such as The Nature 
Conservancy and One Tree Planted, we have identified projects near our 
sites in which to invest. By investing in watershed management with these 
collective-action projects, we have also been able to integrate community 
mobilization by facilitating volunteer opportunities for our employees that 
live near our sites and for the communities in which they reside. 
> For more information on our water-related projects, please see GRI 303 on page 92.
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Emissions
In March 2023, in alignment with the Paris Agreement on climate change and 
in accordance with our commitment to operating responsibly, we committed 
to the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) to set a net-zero target for 
greenhouse gas emissions across our global operations (Scopes 1, 2 and 3). 
We have committed to becoming carbon neutral across our operations 
(Scopes 1 & 2 GHG emissions) by 2025, to reduce our Scopes 1 & 2 GHG 
emissions 46 percent by 2030 from a 2019 baseline (including biogenic 
emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks), and to reduce our 
value chain (Scope 3 GHG emissions) 30 percent by 2030, also from a 2019 
baseline. These reduction targets have been verified by the SBTi. 
We seek to achieve carbon neutrality in our operations with ongoing 
innovation to increase energy efficiency, applying sustainable building 
standards and continuing to transition away from fossil fuel use. 
Remaining Scope 1 emissions will be balanced each year by investing in 
high-quality carbon offsets, including carbon removal offsets.
We continue to find ways to decrease energy demand and have increased 
the amount of renewable energy we purchase. Our procurement team is 
engaging our strategic suppliers in our efforts to reduce the environmental 
impacts within our supply chain. In our Business Partner Code of Conduct, 
we request that suppliers conserve energy and engage in activities aimed at 
reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Management approach
GRI 305	
Scientific data supports that climate change is occurring, and we are taking 
action to help reduce the economic and public health risks associated with a 
changing climate.
We have adopted a set of climate goals to help position our Company to 
succeed in an increasingly resource-constrained world. These goals were 
developed to align with the latest climate science and address the rising 
expectations of our customers, investors, external stakeholders and 
employees regarding the environmental impact of our operations and 
supply chain. 
GHG emissions goals
Goal
Reduce our operational 
greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions (i.e., Scopes 1 & 
2) 46% by 2030 from a 2019 
baseline.
Reduce our value chain (Scope 
3) GHG emissions 30% by 2030 
from a 2019 baseline.
Achieve carbon neutrality 
across our operations by 2025 
(Scopes 1 & 2 emissions).
Progress
9% reduction in Scope 1 
& 2 emissions from 2019 
baseline.
6% increase in Scope 
3 emissions from 2019 
baseline.
In progress. Any 
remaining emissions 
will be offset with high-
quality offsets in 2025.
Renewable energy goal
Goal
Source 100% of our purchased 
electricity from renewable 
sources by 2025.
Progress
45% of purchased 
electricity from renewable 
sources in 2022.
We have committed to sourcing 100 percent of our purchased electricity 
from renewable energy by 2025. This target will help us reduce our Scope 2 
emissions and meet our Scopes 1 & 2 reduction goal. 
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Governance
We ensure our ongoing commitment to these areas through thoughtful 
governance. The Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Council, 
which comprises top-level executives from throughout the Company, 
provides enterprise leadership and sponsorship for our environmental 
sustainability strategy. The EHS Council monitors progress towards our 
public targets, influences decisions for environmental sustainability strategy 
implementation, and also increases visibility and transparency internally 
to the business, Executive Team and the Board of Directors. Our internal 
Environmental Sustainability Implementation Steering Committee also 
comprises top-level executives from throughout the Company, oversees 
progress of initiatives at the enterprise level, and provides support and 
guidance on the implementation plans and resourcing of our environmental 
sustainability strategy globally. This steering committee is informed by 
leaders from the Environmental Sustainability Center of Excellence (CoE), 
Global Energy & Sustainability CoE and Energy Procurement CoE, who 
develop our goals in alignment with stakeholder expectations, track their 
progress, and develop and provide continuous improvement on plans to 
achieve and sustain our public commitments.
Each site is responsible for the management of its energy use. In many 
cases, we also partner with our third-party Integrated Facility Management 
(IFM) providers to manage energy use and work toward achieving the 
corporate goals.
In 2022, we conducted a climate policy alignment assessment of the trade 
associations referenced in GRI 2-23 on page 42 by determining whether 
they had publicly disclosed formal positions on climate change and, if so, 
reviewing those positions in the context of our Company’s own position on 
climate change. 
> This assessment can be found on the Sustainability Resources page on our 
corporate website.
Our Company is performing a high-level qualitative physical and transitional 
climate risk and opportunity scenario assessment aligned with the framework 
created by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). 
> For more information regarding TCFD, please see GRI 201-2 on page 52.
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CONTINUED:	
GRI 305

Total GHGs (MT CO2e)
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Scope11,3,4
769,200
728,600
710,900
689,900
712,400
Scope 2 location-based1,3,4
402,400
387,700
370,700
378,100
352,000
Scope 2 market-based1,3
370,000
294,600
236,500
234,900
218,800
Total Scopes 1 & 2 GHGs (market-based)1,3,4
1,139,200
1,023,200
947,400
924,800
931,200
Scope 3 GHGs2,3
5,668,400
6,380,500
6,457,800
6,958,500
6,787,100
GHG intensity (Scopes 1 & 2—market-based)5
18.49
16.61
14.90
13.89
13.69
ERM CVS provided limited assurance of select 2022 greenhouse gas and water data included in this report and submitted to CDP. To view the ERM CVS limited assurance statement for our environmental data, please visit the 
Sustainability Resources page of our corporate website. The limited assurance engagement was performed in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements ISAE 3000.
1 Externally assured by ERM CVS. 
2 Select data externally assured By ERM CVS. To view the ERM CVS limited assurance statement for our environmental data, please visit the Sustainability Resources page of our corporate website.
3 In accordance with the World Resource Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol, prior-year data have been adjusted to add or remove facilities that have been acquired, sold or spun-off. Adjustments also reflect changes in 
methodology to ensure consistency from year to year, including Scope 2 emission factor updates [E-GRID (2022), IEA (2022), EU Residual (2022), UK Defra (2022) & Inventarios Corporativos (2022)] and Scope 1 & 3 emission 
factor updates [EPA Climate Leaders (2022)]. The World Resource Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol defines Scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as direct emissions from owned or controlled sources such as on-site 
fuel combustion and fleet vehicles. Scope 2 GHG emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy consumed by the reporting company. Scope 3 GHG emissions include all other indirect emissions in a 
company’s value chain.
4 The operational control approach is used to account for GHG emissions for Company facilities globally. Only those facilities over which our Company has operational control are included in the GHG inventory.
5 Total Scope 1 & Scope 2 market-based metric tons CO2e per employee.
Reduction of GHG emissions
GRI 305-5	
GHG emissions intensity
GRI 305-4	
Other indirect GHG emissions (Scope 3)
GRI 305-3	
Indirect GHG emissions (Scope 2)
GRI 305-2	
Direct GHG emissions (Scope 1)
GRI 305-1	
GHG Emissions (2022)
Scope 1:
712,400 MT CO2e1
Scope 2 (market-based):
218,800 MT CO2e1
Scope 3:
6,787,100 MT CO2e2
Total GHG emissions 
(market-based):
7,718,300 MT CO2e
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Scope 3 GHG details (MT CO2e)
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Purchased goods and services1
4,295,500
4,827,900
5,050,900
5,465,800
5,263,100
Capital goods1
221,800
329,000
455,100
453,200
423,900
Fuel and energy-related activities not included in Scopes 1 & 22,11
232,100
220,200
194,100
216,500
230,700
Upstream transportation and distribution1
242,600
240,000
232,800
237,800
355,200
Waste generated in operations 
(excluding recycled and composted waste)3,4
17,700
18,800
21,900
23,800
24,900
Employee business travel5,6,11
289,400
327,200
208,600
241,100
270,800
Employee commuting7
213,400
243,700
114,800
117,200
119,000
Downstream transportation and distribution8
113,200
124,800
136,000
134,800
87,100
Use of sold products9,11
600
600
600
700
500
End-of-life treatment of sold products10
42,100
48,300
43,000
47,600
11,900
Total12
5,668,400
6,380,500
6,457,800
6,958,500
6,787,100
1 Based on third-party spend data and an economic input-output model performed by Climate Earth, Inc. 
2 Emission factors from Argonne National Laboratory's GREET Model were used in conjunction with primary fuel and energy-use data. Does not include purchased cooling water. 
3 Primary-waste data were used with the U.S. EPA’s WARM Model.
4 Including recycled and composted waste in these calculations would result in negative emissions in 2018 (-43,700 MT CO₂e), 2019 (-62,400 MT CO₂e), 2020 (-48,900 MT CO₂e), 2021 (-46,300 MT CO₂e) and 2022 (-57,900 MT CO₂e).
5 Based on primary travel vendor data, employee-reimbursable mileage and UK Defra factors.
6 Emissions are based on primary vendor data where available and economic input-output modeling performed by Climate Earth, Inc., using spend data.
7 2020-2022 reductions caused by shifts to remote and hybrid working models.
8 Emissions were calculated using our “Upstream transportation and distribution” spend data as a worst-case estimate entered into the WRI Quantis tool. We assumed that all “downstream” material would first have been 
stored, transported and handled “upstream.”
9 Due to recent acquisitions, we are currently evaluating the applicability of additional products to this category. This category currently includes the impacts of our Animal Health products ENGEMYCIN® (oxytetracycline), NEO 
SPRAY CAF® (oxytetracyclinum), OXYTETRIN® LA (oxytetracycline) only.
10 Calculated assuming that all primary, secondary and tertiary packaging purchased was disposed of by our customers. Packaging material data was used with the U.S. EPA’s WARM Model.
11 ERM CVS provided limited assurance of Scope 3 emissions comprised of World Resources Institute's Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 3 Categories 3, 11 and the primary activity data portion of Category 6 (76,582 MT CO2e or 
28 percent of the total category), which includes primary vendor and employee reimbursable data. The total reported for Category 6 includes non-primary travel vendor data emissions which were based on our 2022 third-
party spend data and an Economic Input-Output Model performed by Climate Earth, Inc. 2021 reimbursable mileage data was used as a proxy for the 2022 calculations.
12 May not add up to total due to rounding.
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GRI 305-1 | GRI 305-2 | GRI 305-3 | GRI 305-4 | GRI 305-5

Reduction of GHG emissions
From 2021 to 2022, our combined year-over-year Scope 1 and market-based 
Scope 2 GHG emissions remained about the same. While we implemented 
several projects that reduced our GHG emissions, we also experienced capital 
expansion, which resulted in no net reduction in GHG emissions from the 
last year.
We have analyzed and reported our Scope 3 impacts using primary activity 
data and accepted emission factors in addition to an economic input-output 
model based on our third-party spend. In 2022, our Scope 3 GHG emissions 
decreased as compared to 2021. While performance was mixed across our 
reported categories, a decrease in our largest category, Purchased Goods and 
Services, led to an overall decrease from 2021.
Our analysis shows that our Scope 3 GHG emissions impacts are nearly seven 
times greater than our combined Scopes 1 & 2 emissions. We are working 
to reduce those impacts through activities such as reducing waste in our 
operations, creating more sustainable packaging, and changing the way we 
commute to work and travel for business. We are also engaging with our 
strategic suppliers to identify ways to reduce GHG emissions in our supply 
chain. These actions not only reduce our environmental impact, but also 
benefit the business by reducing costs.
We report our GHG emissions as required by regulations in certain countries 
and annually through CDP Climate. In 2022, CDP graded our disclosure as a 
“B” or a rating of “management,” indicating that we are “taking coordinated 
action on climate issues.” 
> Our CDP Climate Change Questionnaire is available on CDP's website.
For more information on our initiatives, policies and accomplishments, please 
see GRI 302 on page 88, and the following resources on our corporate website:
•	 Public policy position statement: Climate Change
•	 Business Partner Code of Conduct
NOx, SOx and other emissions
GRI 305-7	
Ozone-depleting substances (ODS)
GRI 305-6	
We are committed to controlling air emissions from our facilities to reduce 
local, regional and global environmental impacts. Air emissions are generated 
by our manufacturing and research operations, as well as by burning fuel in 
on-site equipment and fleet vehicles. Our Air Management Standard requires 
our facilities to quantify and control air emissions to comply with both 
applicable regulations and emission standards. Where regulations do not 
mandate emission quantification, our facilities are required to use guidelines 
and tools associated with Air Management Standard to estimate emissions. 
These guidelines and tools were developed using U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) emission calculation methodologies.
Any increase in production can negatively impact our emissions trends. 
While there are efforts to minimize solvent use in production, solvents 
are needed for cleaning and disinfecting purposes. As we transform from 
manufacturing of pharmaceuticals to biopharmaceuticals, mandatory 
cleaning and disinfection protocols associated with biologics and vaccines are 
increasing solvent-based emissions. The Montreal Protocol mandates phase-
out of refrigerants that are ozone-depleting substances (ODS) per schedules 
approved for individual countries. Our facilities strive to maintain compliance 
with applicable regulatory requirements that have been established in 
accordance with each country’s commitments.
Our Air Center of Excellence (CoE) provides assistance as needed to our 
facilities to obtain appropriate environmental permits, and to quantify 
and control air emissions to comply with applicable regulations and 
emission standards.
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GRI 305-1 | GRI 305-2 | GRI 305-3 | GRI 305-4 | GRI 305-5

Production and research emissions
Many of our pharmaceutical manufacturing processes, cleaning/disinfection 
operations and research laboratories require the use of solvents. Evaporation 
of solvents into the air is our primary source of volatile organic compound 
(VOC) emissions. In an effort to reduce VOCs, reductions in solvent 
usage has been incorporated as an element of our Green & Sustainable 
Science program. 
Key elements of the program include designing efficient processes that use 
fewer and less-hazardous organic solvents, and using water-based methods 
for cleaning our process equipment where they are equally effective as 
solvent-based methods. To reduce emissions from processes where organic 
solvents are used, we use pollution-control technologies such as conservation 
vents, carbon filters, thermal oxidizers, condensers and scrubbers.
> For more information on this program, please see GRI 301 on page 84.
Fossil fuel combustion emissions
Air emissions are also generated by burning fuel in our boilers and power-
generation turbines (for heat and energy), and by other combustion 
processes such as thermal oxidizers (for treating air emissions) and 
incinerators (for destroying waste). Our fleet vehicles and aircraft also 
burn fuel and generate air emissions. These combustion processes result in 
emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) 
and VOCs.
We strive to make our facilities more energy efficient through our energy-
management programs and to improve the fuel efficiency of our fleet 
vehicles. Our company’s actions to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to 
meet our public climate commitments will also result in a reduction of NOx, 
SOx and VOC emissions. 
The increase in NOx and SOx emissions from 2021 to 2022 is a result of 
the combination of multiple factors, including an increase in the use of jets 
compared to pre-pandemic levels, an increase in the combustion of diesel fuel 
at a couple of our facilities (addressing a power failure due to a hurricane and 
a natural gas curtailment during winter), more accurate emission-tracking 
methods and variations in energy needs at multiple facilities. 
VOC emissions decreased from 2021 to 2022 due to variations in production, 
replacement of solvent-based cleaning with water-based cleaning at one 
of our facilities, and data collection improvements with the adoption of 
more accurate emission tracking methods. Emissions of ozone-depleting 
substances are the result of non-routine releases from temperature control 
and fire suppression systems and can vary from year to year.
Air pollutant emissions by type (MT)¹ 
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
490
392
388
350
358
Sulfur oxides (SOx)
29
27
22
24
29
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
402
388
382
342
331
Ozone-depleting substances (ODS)
0.3
0.6
0.3
0.3
0.7
Note: Previously reported data have been restated per our methodology, which includes adding facilities that have been acquired and removing facilities that have been sold or spun-off.
1 Data are estimated using conservative assumptions and factors, not measured or weighed.
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CONTINUED:	
GRI 305-6 | GRI 305-7

Waste
Management approach
GRI 306	
The proper management of waste from our facilities is important to the 
communities in which we operate and is a focus of our environmental permits 
and other regulatory requirements.
Our waste management standard requires our facilities to comply with 
applicable generation, management and disposal regulations and standards. 
To minimize our environmental footprint and align with the UN Sustainable 
Development Goals, we look for opportunities to avoid the use of hazardous 
materials, to reuse or recycle materials and to prevent the generation of 
waste. When prevention, reuse and recycling are not practical or feasible, we 
apply controls and treatment technologies to prevent human health impacts 
and minimize environmental impacts.
Governance
Waste management is overseen globally by our Waste and Dangerous Goods 
Center of Excellence (CoE). Each site is responsible for the management of 
its waste. In many cases, we partner with our third-party Integrated Facility 
Management (IFM) partners to manage site waste and work toward realizing 
the waste goals.
Management of significant waste-related impacts
GRI 306-2	
Waste generation and significant waste-related impacts
GRI 306-1	
Operational waste is primarily generated from the following activities:
•	 Manufacturing
•	 Packaging
•	 On-site wastewater treatment
•	 Research
Waste minimization begins with the evaluation of our product designs and 
manufacturing processes. Through our Green & Sustainable Science program 
(see GRI 301 on page 84), we design processes that use safer chemicals, 
consume less energy, use less water and other resources, and generate less 
waste. Our process development biologists, chemists and engineers have the 
expertise to create more sustainable ways to make our products.
We continuously strive to reduce the amount of operational waste we 
generate and to maximize the use of environmentally beneficial disposal 
methods such as recycling, composting and waste-to-energy. To ensure our 
waste is managed in an environmentally responsible manner, we use only 
approved waste disposal facilities. Approved facilities demonstrate that they 
have the systems, technologies and practices to manage our waste streams 
responsibly and in compliance with all applicable requirements. We routinely 
audit these facilities to verify the acceptability of their systems and practices. 
Waste types are defined differently in various parts of the world. For this 
report, we have divided our operational waste into two categories: 
•	 Hazardous waste: Highly regulated or high-risk waste streams that need 
to be neutralized, treated or destroyed to address a particular hazard such 
as toxicity, flammability, corrosivity, radioactivity, pharmaceutically active 
or infectious
•	 Non-hazardous waste: Includes all other operational waste
The amount of construction-project-related waste can vary significantly 
from year to year based on the number and size of projects. Therefore, our 
definition of operational waste does not include construction or demolition 
waste from construction projects.
Over the past few years, a number of countries in Asia have enacted 
legislation restricting the acceptance of solid waste from other countries. 
Historically, a large percentage of recyclable waste collected in the U.S. has 
been shipped to Asia for recycling, so this change had and continues to have 
the potential to affect the percentage of our non-hazardous waste sent for 
recycling. However, this change had minimal impact on our recycling rates 
Operational waste
The amount of waste we generate reflects the efficiency of our 
manufacturing processes.
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in the past year. The amount of our non-hazardous waste sent for recycling 
decreased by three percentage points from 2021 to 2022. 
In 2022, two of the Company's largest sites sending non-hazardous waste 
to landfills implemented diversion strategies to reduce the volume of 
waste going to landfill by 60 percent. We also allocated approximately 
$142,000 to additional waste projects through the Sustainability Capital 
Fund. The majority of this funding supported the installation at one facility 
of a biodigester that uses bacteria to break down organic waste matter. 
The remainder was used to support water diversion awareness with 
AI-sorting technology.
Value chain waste
Potential waste-related impacts are also associated with upstream activities 
such as external manufacturing of active ingredients, the purchase of raw 
materials and goods, and the return of off-spec product. Similarly, the 
impacts downstream of the packaging and waste generated from the use 
of our products is estimated in our Scope 3 GHG emissions.
> For more information on our GHG emissions, please refer to section GRI 305 on page 101.
While we may not be in full control of the waste generated in our value chain, 
we pursue various initiatives to reduce the impact through our product and 
material choices. Some of these waste reduction initiatives across our value 
chain include:
•	 Eliminating substances of concern from packaging
•	 Solvent recovery and beneficial reuse
•	 Packaging design efficiency
•	 Re-usable shippers (in product distribution)
According to our Business Partner Code of Conduct, partners shall operate 
in an environmentally responsible and efficient manner to minimize adverse 
impacts on the environment. Partners are encouraged to conserve natural 
resources, to avoid the use of hazardous materials where possible and to 
engage in activities that reuse and recycle.
> For more information on our environmental management with suppliers, please see 
GRI 308 on page 112.
Waste management goals
Goal
By 2025, no more than 20% 
of our global operational 
waste will be sent to landfills 
and incinerators (without 
energy recovery).
By 2025, at least 50% of 
our sites will send zero waste 
to landfills.
Progress
16% of operational waste 
was sent to landfill and 
incinerators (without 
energy recovery).
49% of sites sent zero 
waste to landfill.
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CONTINUED:	
GRI 306-1 | GRI 306-2

Amount of product accepted for takeback, reuse, 
or disposal
SASB 250a.4	
Waste directed to disposal
GRI 306-5	
Waste diverted from disposal
GRI 306-4	
Waste generated
GRI 306-3	
Global operational waste (% of total waste)1,2
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Incinerated (without energy recovery)
24%
19%
23%
28%
12%
Landfilled
9%
7%
5%
5%
4%
Total (2025 Goal <20%)
33%
26%
28%
33%
16%
1 The initial waste treatment facility is defined as the generator of record for the waste generated from the treatment of an operational waste stream shipped from a company. Therefore, to be consistent with the definition for 
“generator of record,” we do not track operational waste beyond the initial waste treatment facility.
2 In 2022, new information specific to the technology used for the generation and use of energy at the disposal facility to which our largest hazardous waste stream is sent was identified. The waste directed to this disposal 
technology was previously classified as incineration without energy recovery, but with this updated information it has been reclassified as incineration with energy recovery as per our internal definitions. Only the 2022 
reporting year reflects this reclassification. Reporting for the years prior to 2022 with this reclassification will be included in the 2023/2024 Impact Report.
Hazardous waste (MT)1,2
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Incinerated (without energy recovery)
17,639
14,025
16,649
22,086
9,109
Energy recovery
10,300
13,655
15,330
14,029
28,964
Recycled
6,827
8,034
8,685
9,824
6,878
Other
2,221
1,865
1,662
2,824
2,814
Reused
695
1,147
480
1,510
683
Landfilled
731
938
198
315
92
Composted
0
0
0
0
0
Total
38,413
39,674
43,004
50,588
48,540
 1 The initial waste treatment facility is defined as the generator of record for the waste generated from the treatment of an operational waste stream shipped from a company. Therefore, to be consistent with the definition 
for “generator of record," we do not track operational waste beyond the initial waste treatment facility.
2 In 2022, new information specific to the technology used for the generation and use of energy at the disposal facility to which our largest hazardous waste stream is sent was identified. The waste directed to this disposal 
technology was previously classified as incineration without energy recovery, but with this updated information it has been reclassified as incineration with energy recovery as per our internal definitions. Only the 2022 
reporting year reflects this reclassification. Reporting for the years prior to 2022 with this reclassification will be included in the 2023/2024 Impact Report.
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Approximately 14 percent of our hazardous waste was sent offsite for 
recycling and was either returned to us for reuse or sold to other industries. 
This is a decrease from the 19 percent that was recycled Company-wide in 
2021, and is attributed to reduced production at one of our manufacturing 
facilities that is in the process of being closed. Another 60 percent was 
burned to generate power, up from 28 percent in 2021. About 19 percent 
of the total hazardous waste generated was incinerated without energy 
recovery, down from 44 percent in 2021 due to a reclassification based on 
new information as explained in footnote 2 on the previous page. Less than 
one percent was sent to hazardous-waste landfills.
Non-hazardous waste (MT)
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Recycled
12,975
14,188
13,537
13,073
13,668
Energy recovery
9,273
10,030
8,280
7,066
10,115
Composted
4,798
4,843
4,892
5,872
5,672
Landfilled
5,684
4,603
4,061
3,702
3,643
Other
209
1,025
1,717
266
121
Reused
2,204
660
963
583
693
Incinerated (without energy recovery)
374
477
1,124
850
881
Total
35,517
35,826
34,574
31,412
34,793
1The initial waste treatment facility is defined as the generator of record for the waste generated from the treatment of an operational waste stream shipped from a company. Therefore, to be consistent with the definition for 
“generator of record,” we do not track operational waste beyond the initial waste treatment facility.
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CONTINUED:	
GRI 306-3 | GRI 306-4 | GRI 306-5 | SASB 250a.4

In 2022, 16 percent of our non-hazardous waste was composted, a decrease 
from 19 percent in the previous year. Approximately 39 percent of our non-
hazardous waste was sent offsite for recycling, a decrease from 42 percent in 
2021. Another 29 percent was burned to generate power, up from 22 percent 
in 2021. A contributor to this increase included one of the Company's largest 
sites generating non-hazardous waste to landfill transitioning a portion 
of its waste from landfill to energy recovery. About 3 percent of the total 
non-hazardous waste generated was incinerated without energy recovery 
(unchanged from 2021), and 10 percent was sent to non-hazardous waste 
landfills, down from 12 percent in 2021.
Total waste (MT)1,2
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Recycled
19,802
22,222
22,222
22,897
20,546
Energy recovery
19,573
23,685
23,610
21,095
39,079
Composted
4,798
4,843
4,892
5,872
5,672
Landfilled
6,415
5,541
4,259
4,017
3,735
Other
2,430
2,890
3,379
3,090
2,935
Reused
2,899
1,807
1,443
2,093
1,376
Incinerated (without energy recovery)
18,013
14,512
17,773
22,936
9,990
Total
73,930
75,500
77,578
82,000
83,333
1 The initial waste treatment facility is defined as the generator of record for the waste generated from the treatment of an operational waste stream shipped from a company. Therefore, to be consistent with the definition for 
“generator of record,” we do not track operational waste beyond the initial waste treatment facility.
2 In 2022, new information specific to the technology used for the generation and use of energy at the disposal facility to which our largest hazardous waste stream is sent was identified. The waste directed to this disposal 
technology was previously classified as incineration without energy recovery, but with this updated information it has been reclassified incineration with energy recovery as per our internal definitions. Only the 2022 reporting 
year reflects this reclassification in this Impact Report. Reporting for the years prior to 2022 with this reclassification will be included in the 2023/2024 Impact Report.
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CONTINUED:	
GRI 306-3 | GRI 306-4 | GRI 306-5 | SASB 250a.4

In 2022, we managed 83,333 metric tons of waste from our operations, 
a two percent increase from 2021. Of this total, 48,540 metric tons were 
hazardous waste. 
Of the hazardous waste we generated in 2022, 75 percent was beneficially 
reused (reused, recycled, composted or sent for energy recovery), up from 
50 percent in 2021 (see footnote 2 of the table above for explanation of 
these changes).
We beneficially reused 87 percent of the 34,793 metric tons of nonhazardous 
waste we generated in 2022. We are evaluating and refining the programs 
currently in place at our manufacturing, research and office sites to reduce 
waste generation and increase recycling.
Approximately 49 percent of our facilities sent zero operational waste to 
landfill in 2022, down from 52 percent in 2021. The decrease was due to 
additional sites coming into the network. Year over year, there was no net 
change in the number of sites that sent zero operational waste to landfill. 
The overall percentage of waste sent to landfill decreased from five percent 
in 2021 to four percent in 2022. We continue to work to identify alternate 
methods of waste management that will reduce the amount of waste sent to 
incinerators (without energy recovery) and landfills.
We do not collect data on the amount of product accepted for takeback, 
reuse or disposal.
> For additional information on this topic, please review the following documents 
located on our corporate website:
•	 Public policy position statement: Responsible Disposal of Medicines
•	 Sharps Management Plan-CalRecycle
Supplier environmental 
assessment
Management approach
GRI 308	
Environmental sustainability principles are integrated into each stage of 
our supplier management program. Our Global Supplier Management 
Group (GSMG) drives the program and maintains the associated standards 
and processes by which suppliers are identified, qualified and managed. 
The environmental sustainability program is an essential element of supplier 
management along with social responsibility, economic inclusion and supplier 
diversity (EI&SD).
> Please visit GRI 2-6 on page 35, GRI 204 on page 77 and GRI 414 on page 145 for 
additional information regarding our integrated approach with our suppliers.
External Manufacturing
External manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished 
products are screened for environmental health and safety (EHS) compliance, 
in addition to quality, supply and technical competence requirements. 
The EHS screening and on-site assessment is led by GSMG and Global Safety 
and the Environment (GSE), and includes a survey covering such topics as 
regulatory compliance, fatalities and major incidents.
Based on the screening results and activities undertaken by the supplier, 
certain external manufacturers are subject to a more detailed on-site 
assessment conducted by a multidisciplinary team, which may include 
our Quality, GSE, Global Technical Operations and GSMG representatives. 
The external manufacturers with whom we contract are periodically 
reassessed using a risk-based approach; higher-risk external manufacturers 
are subject to more frequent on-site assessments. We expect that 
observations made during the EHS assessment process will be remediated 
by our external manufacturers, and we monitor and track corrective and 
preventative actions (CAPAs) through completion.
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GRI 306-3 | GRI 306-4 | GRI 306-5 | SASB 250a.4

Since 2020, the EHS assessment schedule has been negatively impacted by 
the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in Q2 2022, EHS assessments have been 
primarily completed in person. However, some assessments were completely 
virtual or a combination thereof.
External manufacturing EHS assessments
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Prospective external manufacturers
65
43
50
42
27
Current external manufacturers
61
48
27
54
51
Total
126
91
77
96
78
Going forward
While introductory goals were established in 2017, our Company continues 
to work to improve how we partner with our third parties to drive improved 
environmental sustainability throughout our supply chain. 
We are initiating collaborations with our value-chain partners to: 
•	 Gather their Company-apportioned activity-based/actual emissions data
•	 Forecast future performance of emission reduction plans
•	 Realize actual emission reductions for planned projects
We have created an enterprise-wide decarbonization roadmap focusing 
on third parties supplying goods and services such as logistics, packaging, 
information technology, active pharmaceutical ingredients and site services. 
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CONTINUED:	
GRI 308

Employment
Social
Management approach
GRI 401	
We hire passionate people who believe in taking on the world’s most pressing 
health issues. We seek to maximize each employee’s potential and the 
contributions they bring each day to deliver on the Company’s purpose. 
Our focus is to enable every employee to continuously learn and grow, 
creating a greater connection to the organization and accelerating the 
development of all talent. We believe our employees are at the center 
of everything we do. Leading from this foundation fuels our efforts to 
ensure we are succeeding in attracting, developing, retaining and inspiring 
our employees. 
To execute on these priorities and ensure success, we have enhanced our 
development program offerings while also remaining anchored in driving our 
culture transformation forward. We reinforce a culture that values how we 
work as much as what we achieve.
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Turnover (global)
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Overall turnover rate1
11.8%
9.9%
8.5%
11.1%
11.4%
Voluntary turnover rate
6.8%
6.9%
6.0%
8.8%
8.5%
1 Includes all types of turnover of regular employees. Regular employees are defined as employees who do not have a predetermined end date to employment.
Turnover by division (2022)
Overall 
turnover rate¹ 
Voluntary 
turnover rate 
Animal Health
9.3%
6.8%
Global Support Functions
10.7%
8.7%
Global Human Health
16.3%
9.3%
Manufacturing Division
10.4%
8.8%
Research Laboratories
8.7%
7.7%
Note: Global Support Functions include: Human Resources, Corporate Compliance, Finance, Legal, Strategy, 
BD and IT
1 "Overall turnover rate" includes all types of turnover of regular employees. Regular employees are defined 
as employees who do not have a predetermined end date to employment.
Turnover distribution by gender 
(2022)
Female
Male
Overall
48%
52%
Notes: Data above includes all types of turnover of regular employees. Regular employees are defined as 
employees who do not have a predetermined end date to employment. To align with U.S. government 
reporting requirements, the data for gender diversity in this report uses the terms men and women. 
We recognize and embrace the gender spectrum and diversity in our employees, and have internally 
established voluntary Self-ID options for employees to self-report on their gender identity.
Voluntary and involuntary turnover rate for: executives 
and senior managers, midlevel managers, professionals 
and all others
SASB 330a.2	
New employee hires and turnover
GRI 401-1	
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Employee hires by region 
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Asia Pacific (excl. China 2020-2022)
Number of hires
3,071
2,727
597
588
870
Hire rate1
24.4%
20.8%
8.9%
10.0%
14.6%
EEMEA2 
Number of hires
505
605
360
373
295
Hire rate1
16.7%
18.8%
10.7%
13.8%
11.6%
Latin America
Number of hires
714
558
459
496
441
Hire rate1
13.1%
10.5%
8.4%
10.5%
9.3%
Europe and Canada (excl. Canada for year 2020, 2021 & 2022)
Number of hires
2,495
2,624
1,754
1,709
2,024
Hire rate1
12.3%
12.3%
8.4%
9.5%
10.5%
Japan
Number of hires
153
121
143
120
137
Hire rate1
4.3%
3.4%
4.4%
3.8%
4.3%
U.S.
Number of hires
3,019
2,654
3,193
3,443
3,625
Hire rate1
12.4%
10.5%
11.9%
13.1%
13.3%
Note: Latin America figures include employees in Puerto Rico.
1 Percentage of new hires in the total onboard head count; regular employees only. Regular employees are defined as employees who do not have a predetermined end date to employment.
2 EEMEA (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa)
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CONTINUED:	
GRI 401-1 | SASB 330a.2

Hiring, retaining and developing strong leadership is one of our Company’s 
top goals. We know that diverse teams thrive and contribute to our 
Company’s overall success. In 2022, 52 percent of all hires globally were 
female while in the U.S., 47 percent were from underrepresented ethnic 
groups. We provide our managers and external recruiting organizations 
with the tools they need in order to succeed in mitigating unconscious 
biases throughout the hiring process. We employ a targeted communication 
strategy with marketing, social media and alliances that reach broad and 
diverse pools of talent.
Despite lingering pandemic fears, 2022 continued to show significant hiring 
growth in many of our regions including the U.S., our largest-volume hiring 
market. We also saw hiring growth in Europe and Asia Pacific. This global 
growth is largely due to investments in sales, clinical trials, IT, and digital 
and analytics.
As a result of the global pandemic, China’s 2022 hire rate decreased due to 
lockdowns and restrictions in the country. Our hiring strategy in the region 
continues to focus on securing digital, analytical and automation skill sets 
across all divisions, especially in Oncology and Vaccines in Global Human 
Health and in our R&D division.
Notably, we increased our efforts around creating a diverse workforce 
through our sourcing, branding and selection processes. We successfully 
collaborated with a number of external partners to attract diverse candidates 
across many different demographics. 
Our Company has continued to invest in and partner with several diversity 
hiring programs in the U.S.
Our aim for 2023 is to increase our hiring commitments across programs. 
We will continue to promote early talent initiatives. Overall, we achieved 
success in identifying, sourcing and attracting critical talent in a post-
pandemic environment. 
> See GRI 405 on page 134 for information on our diversity hiring programs. 
China
Number of hires
NR
NR
2,149
1,907
1,391
Hire rate1
NR
NR
29.5%
31.5%
21.5%
Canada
Number of hires
NR
NR
50
73
109
Hire rate1
NR
NR
7.5%
12.8%
18.4%
NR: Not reported.
Employee hires by region (continued)
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
1Percentage of new hires in the total onboard head count; regular employees only. Regular employees are defined as employees who do not have a predetermined end date to employment.
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GRI 401-1 | SASB 330a.2

Talent recruitment and retention efforts for R&D personnel
SASB 330a.1	
We have strategically-located discovery centers in regions with active 
biomedical research communities in California and Massachusetts, as well as 
principal sites outside of the U.S., including the United Kingdom, Switzerland 
and China. These centers allow us to recruit talented local scientists and 
facilitate collaboration with local academic institutions and companies. These 
discovery sites complement and connect with the strong R&D capabilities 
and expertise based at our New Jersey and Pennsylvania sites. 
> Learn more about our compensation and benefits on our corporate website. 
Our Well-being Report demonstrates the priority we place on employee well-
being and our commitment to hold ourselves accountable to measure our 
progress, celebrate successes and constantly raise the bar for our employees 
and their families. Our well-being framework focuses on the physical, mental, 
financial and social well-being of all our employees, and our robust suite of 
benefits and resources targets each of these areas. 
> For details, please see our Well-being Report on our corporate website.
Employee volunteering
Each year, our employees around the world take an active role in giving back 
to their communities by donating volunteer hours to help improve health and 
well-being through a range of volunteer activities. 
> See the Philanthropy page on our corporate website for examples and more 
information on our volunteer programs, such as our Fellowship for Global Health 
and legal pro-bono program.
Benefits provided to full-time employees
GRI 401-2	
We recognize that all our employees are vital to our purpose of improving and 
saving lives worldwide. One way we recognize the importance of our people is 
to provide a valuable suite of benefits, well-being programs and resources for 
every stage of life.
Our comprehensive benefits package is aligned to the Company’s values and 
culture, designed to provide high-quality and cost-efficient programs that 
support the needs of our business and those of our diverse workforce with 
what they need when they need it. 
We also have dedicated sourcing teams and a dedicated executive team 
that support R&D specifically, as well as global branding that calls attention 
to specific R&D opportunities. Our success is largely dependent on our 
continued ability to attract and retain highly qualified scientific, technical and 
management personnel, as well as personnel with expertise in clinical R&D, 
governmental regulation and commercialization. 
Parental leave
GRI 401-3	
We offer our employees who become parents up to 12 weeks of paid time off 
following the birth or adoption of their child. 
> For more information, please see our Well-being Report, as well as the 
Compensation and Benefits page on our corporate website.
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Our Company’s EHS management system includes comprehensive programs 
focused on reducing risks, work-related injuries/illnesses and other safety 
incidents from our operations. We focus on safe facility design, process 
controls, operation and maintenance procedures, protection systems and 
emergency-response capabilities.
Our EHS Management System supports our Company’s objectives by 
promoting a strong EHS culture through visible leadership, active employee 
engagement and a focus on proactive identification and elimination of hazards. 
Our Employee Safety Committees demonstrate this EHS engagement in 
action. These Committees include workers and management in a partnership 
to proactively address EHS issues.
While we have reviewed the ISO 18001 Standard, we have not pursued 
certification because we believe that our current EHS management systems 
are robust and achieve our desired levels of EHS performance.
For consistency across the Company, and to enable us to compare our injury 
rates with those of other multinational companies, we use the U.S.-based 
OSHA recordkeeping criteria for recording and tracking work-related injuries 
and illnesses. We require all injuries, illnesses and incidents involving our 
employees to be reported and investigated to determine their cause. We also 
require corrective and preventative actions be taken to prevent recurrence. 
> Please see GRI 403-9 and GRI 403-10 on pages 126-129 for our performance on 
these metrics. 
Occupational health and safety
Management approach
GRI 403	
As a global health care company, we strive to provide a safe and healthy 
workplace. We seek to reduce environmental, health and safety (EHS) risks 
in order to eliminate work-related injuries, illnesses and unplanned events 
from all aspects of our operations through a comprehensive EHS program. 
We are committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace that complies 
with all applicable safety laws and regulations. In addition, we aim for EHS 
performance that is among the best in the pharmaceutical industry. 
All employees, service providers and Company-managed contractors must 
follow the standards and requirements in our EHS management system. 
Compliance with these requirements is measured through site-audit 
processes and through peer reviews for construction.
Each year, we set targets and track leading and lagging safety metrics. 
These metrics include safety observations, near-miss incidents, peer safety 
reviews, Recordable Injury Rates (RIR), Lost Time Injury Rates (LTIR) and 
Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) rates. 
Occupational health and safety management system
GRI 403-1	
Hazard identification, risk assessment and 
incident investigation
GRI 403-2	
We identify work-related hazards and assess risks on a routine and 
non-routine basis and apply the hierarchy of controls in order to eliminate 
hazards and minimize risks. We continually evaluate and work to improve 
our occupational health and safety management system. 
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Process safety
Our process safety program identifies, controls and manages risks associated 
with the manufacturing and handling of our human and animal health 
products. The program applies to operations that are subject to process 
safety regulations, and to our pilot plants, manufacturing operations 
and utility areas where process hazards may exist. In addition, we have 
implemented a structured, chemical-reaction-hazard review program for 
our research laboratories.
In the early stages of product development, we conduct chemical reaction 
and thermal testing of our intermediate materials and products to identify 
potential reactivity, fire and explosion hazards, and environmental risks. 
This testing continues throughout the life cycle of each product to ensure 
that we are aware of the process risks of each material and can properly 
manage these risks. Global process safety professionals work with operations 
and engineering personnel to conduct process hazard analyses to thoroughly 
evaluate our operations. These structured reviews take place at every stage 
from the initial start-up through the final process design. This ensures our 
facility design, equipment, operating controls and maintenance procedures 
are effective in identifying, evaluating, managing and mitigating process-
related hazards.
Non-routine hazardous work
We have developed global safety standards to minimize the potential for 
serious incidents when working at heights, entering confined spaces and 
working on or near machinery, piping and electrical systems. This global 
effort is focused on creating a rigorous and safe approach to risk reduction 
when performing these non-routine, high-hazard work activities. 
Capital projects construction safety 
We have a strong construction safety program with a focus on zero harm 
to people, property and the environment. Our Global Engineering Solutions 
(GES) group oversees hundreds of contractors and thousands of skilled 
craft workers on our construction projects worldwide. Safety is integrated 
into all stages of our construction projects, beginning with the concept 
and design phases, and is carried through to Detailed Design, Construction 
and Commissioning/Qualification. In 2022, 10.5 million hours were spent in 
construction on GES Capital Project work. 
Our construction safety program mandates pre-job planning, hazard 
assessments and daily safety checks. We also conduct peer reviews by 
bringing together in-house engineers, contractors, the EHS construction 
team and other partners to conduct thorough project safety evaluations 
and share best practices. In 2022, we completed 64 peer safety reviews on 
projects, covering 100 percent of our active projects that were chosen for 
peer safety reviews.
The construction industry continues to see a negative trend related to 
the availability of contractor and craft resources. The impacts of this 
trend require management of resource availability issues, varied levels of 
experience and safety competencies. GES continues to use a “hyper-care” 
program to ensure additional supervision and safety oversight of new 
contractors, high-risk work scope contractors and 
less-experienced contractors.
GES also uses a rigorous, third-party prequalification program—Highwire—to 
evaluate and score contractors and subcontractors. This tool allows the team 
to evaluate contractors’ safety programs, past safety performance, safety 
incident rates, experience modifier rate and training verification of craft, and 
reviews any regulatory citations prior to allowing them to bid on any projects.
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Safety for non-Company personnel
All contractors working at our sites are required to follow a prequalification 
and EHS evaluation process as specified in our Company's Global Contractor 
Management Standard. They are assigned an internal “contractor liaison” 
to monitor EHS compliance, perform EHS inspections and evaluations and 
ensure they follow their safety compliance plans. Contractors are required 
to report and investigate all EHS incidents and near-miss events. They also 
work with site-based EHS contacts to identify and implement corrective and 
preventive actions, which are tracked to completion.
Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) partners are globally sourced 
companies that are responsible for supporting our Company for facility-
related tasks. IFM partners are required to follow our Company's EHS 
standards and site-specific EHS procedures in order to monitor compliance 
activities associated with their scope of services and meet EHS- and 
sustainability-related performance objectives.
IFM partners are managed through a central governance team. The 
governance process includes dedicated resources to measure, monitor 
and evaluate IFM partners' EHS and sustainability performance, as well as 
adherence to Company requirements on an ongoing basis. IFM partners 
proactively follow a continuous improvement process whereby each year, 
in addition to our Company requirements, specific targets are set up and 
monitored at the governance level.
Motor vehicle safety
The purpose of the motor vehicle safety program is to promote a strong 
safety culture for our employees who operate vehicles during the conduct 
of Company business. The program is designed to reduce the number and 
severity of motor vehicle accidents and injuries along with a reduction in 
violations. Our global motor vehicle safety standard and adopted programs, 
such as predictive analytics assessments, allow us to develop employee-
specific defensive driving action plans, and to promote safe driving skills and 
behaviors for our sales and marketing employees (who operate the majority 
of our business-use vehicles). 
Emergency response
We prioritize the prevention of incidents through equipment and facility 
design, operational and maintenance procedures and employee training. 
However, in the event that unplanned incidents occur, we maintain 
emergency preparedness and response capabilities at our facilities. 
Emergency response programs help secure the safety and well-being of 
our employees and visitors, the protection of the environment and nearby 
communities, as well as protecting our physical assets. We also conduct 
pre-emergency planning for credible emergency scenarios such as process 
upsets, fires, spills, releases, severe weather and security-related incidents.
Site-specific emergency response procedures include incident reporting and 
management, personnel evacuation, and medical and incident response and 
control. We routinely conduct emergency response drills and train employees 
in job-specific and site-specific emergency response duties.
Many of our manufacturing plants have on-site, trained emergency response 
teams and mobile fire and rescue apparatus that can respond to fires, medical 
emergencies, technical rescues and spills/releases. Most of our emergency 
response teams interact directly with their local community-based 
emergency responders and, in some cases, assist off-site when requested.
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Loss prevention
We proactively assess and manage the risks associated with fires and natural 
catastrophes (e.g., hurricanes, floods, windstorms and earthquakes) through 
our Loss Prevention Program. This program focuses on eliminating or 
reducing the impact of potential loss events through:
•	 Facility and process designs
•	 Inspection, prevention and maintenance procedures
•	 Fire suppression, detection and specialized protection systems
•	 Emergency response and business continuity programs
We engage globally-recognized, external loss prevention engineering 
service providers to routinely inspect and review designs and modifications 
of facilities. This posture assists us in maintaining a high standard of loss 
prevention that corresponds to the level of operational risk, monetary value 
and supply chain importance.
Industrial hygiene
The Industrial Hygiene (IH) program helps safeguard employee health 
throughout all stages of research and manufacturing. Our IH professionals 
identify chemical, physical and biological hazards, and assess exposures and 
control risks. Based on industry-leading best practices, we accomplish this 
through a hierarchy of controls. These include: Prevention; Substitution; 
Engineering; Administrative; and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Our practice when designing new processes and facilities is to build safety 
into our designs organically by eliminating risks, substituting less hazardous 
processes or materials and installing effective engineering and operational 
controls. We also confirm the ongoing effectiveness of these controls after 
installation through a robust monitoring program.
We use a similar approach when addressing existing processes and 
facilities. Our priority is to eliminate hazardous materials and processes. 
When elimination is not possible, we use less hazardous substitutes and 
then evaluate potential engineering controls to mitigate the remaining risk. 
Where engineering controls are insufficient, or not feasible, we establish 
effective work practice controls, including those that may require selected 
types of PPE. 
Biological safety
Our biological safety program aims to protect our employees, customers 
and communities by identifying, assessing and controlling biosafety 
and biosecurity risks. The biological safety program is designed to 
control biological exposure and support the research, development and 
manufacturing of vaccines and medicines for communicable and non-
communicable diseases. Our program supports UN SDG 3, and aligns with 
the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), GHSA Biosafety and Biosecurity 
Action Package.
In 2022, our Company launched an updated engineering design standard that 
governs fit-for-purpose biological laboratory facility design to support our 
pipeline. This enabled our Company to design Biological Safety Level 2 
(BSL-2) and BSL-3 laboratories for safe research and development of 
vaccines and therapeutics to combat endemic or emerging infectious 
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diseases like dengue, brucellosis and bovine botulism. In an effort to improve 
biosafety capabilities, our Biosafety Center of Excellence conducted a 
Biocontainment Engineering Workshop to increase the biosafety knowledge 
base of our engineers and biosafety professionals. The team also developed 
an engineering project-risk-assessment tool and integrated other biosafety 
tools into the existing Company global engineering project team roadmap to 
improve design decisions for new and renovated biological facilities.
We partner with our community of public and private sector biosafety 
professionals in order to help educate biorisk professionals globally, 
and develop guidelines that protect human and animal health and the 
environment. In 2022, we volunteered with American Biological Safety 
Association (ABSA) International to support ISO Technical Committee 212’s 
Working Group 5 to develop the ISO 35001 Implementation Guide, and 
to draft a new ISO Biosafety Professional Competency Standard. We also 
supported the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Zodiac Project 
to improve biosafety in veterinary diagnostic laboratories globally, and 
presented on sustainable effluent decontamination at the International 
Veterinary Biosafety Workgroup.
In 2022, our biological safety professionals facilitated 293 biorisk 
assessments to support research and development and manufacturing 
activities across all Company divisions. By developing and leveraging an 
asset called Biorisk Assessment and Repository (BAR), we believe that we 
have set new biorisk management standards for the industry. BAR evaluates 
biosafety, bioethics and biosecurity risk associated with biological materials 
and establishes sustainable risk-control strategies that protect human health 
and the environment. 
Ergonomics
We have implemented a program focused on the reduction of ergonomic risk in 
process, equipment design and the work environment. We identify ergonomic 
risk and exposure of tasks in all areas of the organization. Our ergonomic 
programs encourage employee participation in workplace assessments, 
risk identification and implementation of sustainable engineering controls. 
Where engineering controls are not feasible, administrative and behavioral 
controls are implemented including, but not limited to, job rotation, job hazard 
identification and body mechanics training. We also require an ergonomic 
design standards review for all new or renovated facilities and projects to 
maximize worker comfort and health and minimize ergonomics hazards and 
risk factors. In 2022, there was a 47 percent reduction in ergonomic lost time 
injuries (15 in 2021 vs 8 in 2022).
Our remote worker ergonomic assessment process and work-from-home 
furniture policy continues to prove successful in eliminating injuries and 
encouraging good working habits. This policy provides hybrid and remote 
workers with access to resources that guide proper home office workstation 
setup and identify appropriate furniture, equipment and solutions needed 
to maintain a healthy work-from-home environment. As a result of this 
program, there were no lost time, recordable or first aid ergonomic cases 
associated with work-from-home computer workstations in 2022.
Occupational health services
GRI 403-3	
Occupational health principles apply to all employees and directly-supervised 
contingent workers. We promote compliance with both the letter and 
the spirit of applicable occupational health laws, Company policies and 
requirements. We prioritize continuous improvement and assess our 
improvements objectively through internal measurement and external 
benchmarking, incorporating best practices and participating in occupational 
health research where appropriate.
To meet the Company’s objectives, we focus on seven key areas:
•	 Prevention and risk-minimization
•	 Quality assurance
•	 Global standards and communication
•	 Education and training
•	 Role of management
•	 Collaboration with EHS
•	 Global employee health governance
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Prevention and risk minimization
The best way to maintain the occupational health of our employees is to 
reduce risk and prevent illnesses and injuries. Occupational Health Services 
collaborates closely with the EHS organization to identify and evaluate 
potential health risks to our employees in an effort to reduce adverse 
impacts. We take proactive steps to prevent occupational injury and 
illness through our Medical Surveillance program. This program evaluates 
new and existing workplace hazards and allows the teams to identify and 
implement procedures and clinical protocols to eliminate these hazards and 
prevent future occurrences. In the event of an occupational injury or illness, 
Occupational Health Services performs joint follow-up investigations with 
the EHS organization and conducts analyses to further refine our preventive 
efforts and reduce avoidable risks.
When employees are ill or injured at work or through personal circumstances, 
we support their recovery so they can return to work healthy to perform their 
jobs. When an employee experiences an occupational injury or illness, we 
promote and facilitate appropriate treatment and rehabilitation.
Quality assurance
Our Quality Assurance program ensures that both our occupational health 
staff and our external vendors for occupational health are compliant with our 
occupational health corporate policies, procedures and guidelines.
Global standards and communication
Our occupational health programs are not static, and we drive continuous 
improvement in their performance. We refine programs, policies and 
procedures based on evolving workplace hazards in the Company. We tie 
our occupational health performance to corporate and divisional goals and 
objectives, when applicable.
We adhere to and promote Company goals, programs, procedures and 
policies designed to provide a high level of respect for the health of our 
employees globally. We foster openness and respectful dialogue with our 
employees, anticipating and responding to concerns about our operations.
Education and training
Well-informed and trained employees provide the backbone for maintaining 
employee health in the workplace. We assist in providing appropriate 
education and training programs for our employees, so that they understand 
potential health hazards and necessary precautions related to their job duties. 
We also invest in our occupational health team’s professional growth to foster 
business excellence in the conscientious execution of their responsibilities.
Role of management 
Managers are responsible for implementing and adhering to both Company 
and local (country or regional) occupational health policies. They may also 
provide input into occupational health policy and strategies. Similarly, we 
expect division and business unit leaders to make certain that their teams 
provide input on occupational health strategies, policies and programs, 
as appropriate. Above all, leaders ensure that their organization provides 
adequate resources to support occupational health performance.
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Collaboration with EHS
EHS provides input to Global Employee Occupational Health policy and 
strategies that promote the Company’s occupational health program. 
Activities include:
•	 Co-developing and reviewing occupational health programs, as applicable
•	 Assessing potential workplace health hazards (chemical, biological 
and physical)
•	 Preventing adverse health effects from hazards
•	 Identifying causal factors associated with injuries and illnesses
•	 Working with site health professionals to analyze and track the safety 
performance of the Company
Global employee health governance
Our executive vice president and chief human resources officer (EVP/chief 
HR officer) is the senior Company official who advises the Executive Team 
on occupational health strategies, policies and programs, and reports to 
the team on occupational health matters that impact employee health 
and human performance. Together, our EVP/chief HR officer, senior vice 
president of compensation and benefits, and vice president of global safety 
and the environment promote effective collaboration on occupational health 
and safety matters. Their mission is to achieve the Company’s occupational 
goals by overseeing and sponsoring the program.
EHS training program materials are available in both instructor-led and 
e-learning formats. 
We have a global standard that defines the EHS training expectations for 
employees:
•	 Manager training covers specific management responsibilities with regard 
to EHS compliance
•	 EHS professional training is designed to expand technical expertise
•	 Employee training covers the specific information our employees need to 
perform their jobs, focusing on hazards they encounter on the job and any 
corresponding control measures
Worker training on occupational health and safety
GRI 403-5	
EHS training is critical to build employee EHS competencies to improve 
compliance, reduce risks and drive continuous improvement. EHS 
professionals complete an assessment of the activities performed and 
identify relevant EHS topics in EHS training plans. These plans comply with 
internal and regulatory training requirements specific to each particular 
country and are reviewed periodically to ensure that they remain current.
Promotion of worker health
GRI 403-6	
Global Employee Health Services provides workers access to nonoccupational 
medical and health care services to address major non-work-related health 
risks. The team operates both globally and locally. Global Employee Health 
also provides occupational and health care services to employees such as:
•	 Medical clearances for job placement and evaluations to assess capability 
to perform a job task
•	 Regulatory assessments for potential health hazards and reproductive 
health hazards
•	 Consultations that prevent injury and illness, such as those related to 
travel and unique workplace hazards
•	 Treatment for employees with a work-related injury or illness 
On-site Global Employee Health personnel support the Company’s 
people through employee health services clinics located on many sites. 
All facilities provide occupational and preventive health services that work 
to keep employees healthy, on the job and functioning at optimal capacity. 
Global Employee Health supports many of the programs, including biometric 
screenings for employee personal health assessments, and vaccinations 
against flu and other viruses, including COVID-19.
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Work-related ill health
GRI 403-10	
In 2022, our Lost Time Incident rate (LTIR) was 0.06, a 22 percent reduction 
from 2021. Our recordable incident rate (RIR) was 0.26, a 31 percent increase 
from 2021. There was one fatality in 2022 due to a motor vehicle accident.
In 2022, our top three types of recordable injuries were:
•	 30% related to struck/caught
•	 20% related to slips, trips and falls
•	 18% related to ergonomics
We focus on the early identification of hazards through reporting and 
analysis, eliminating high-risk tasks, improving engineering controls, and 
performing coaching and training to our workforce to aid in identification and 
elimination of EHS risks.
In 2022, we are still reporting fewer miles driven than in pre-pandemic 
year 2019. While in 2021 there was an increase in collisions per million 
miles (CPMM), in 2022 there was a 25 percent decrease from 2021. Online 
defensive driving training for 2022 focused on common at-risk behaviors (e.g. 
distractions, speeding, safe following distances). Our motor vehicle safety 
program uses a risk-based approach for assigning online defensive driving 
training, where the lowest-risk drivers complete training annually and high-
risk drivers complete training quarterly. 
Work-related injuries
GRI 403-9	
Our most vital occupational health services relate to medical advice and 
consultation, medical evaluations, medical surveillance, care of occupational 
injuries and illnesses, identification and reporting of new potential hazards 
and adverse health effects, emergency medical response and—most 
importantly—prevention.
To develop and maintain awareness of all workplace health hazards, Global 
Employee Health Services maintains a close functional working relationship 
with site management, safety and industrial hygiene professionals. Global 
Employee Health Services are also responsible for maintaining employee 
health records in accordance with local regulatory requirements. Employee 
health is a Company priority, so we strive to continuously improve our 
programs globally and at each site. These efforts include communication 
of our global policies, procedures and protocols; administering regulatory 
and compliance audits; and providing critical oversight for our occupational 
health programs.
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Construction
In 2022, Global Engineering Solutions (GES) received two safety excellence 
awards for First Place Best Safety Durham DS4 Project, and Honorable 
Mention Best Safety Durham Flash Project from the Construction Users 
Roundtable (CURT). CURT is a global organization that provides an 
international forum for the exchange of information and expertise to improve 
safety, productivity and competitive advantage for the construction industry.
In 2022, COVID-19 did not affect our construction safety performance. 
We had 10.5 million construction hours globally and achieved zero injuries 
on most of our capital construction projects. The construction RIR result 
was 0.50, and this was below the GES target KPI of 0.55. The construction 
DART rate was 0.21, and this was below the GES target KPI of 0.23. Lastly, 
construction projects had over 153,000 Tap Ins (safety observations) being 
reported in 2022.
Global safety performance (employees)1 
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Workplace safety
Recordable incident rate (RIR)
0.30
0.30
0.16
0.20
0.26
RIR percentage change
-9%
0%
-47%
25%
31%
Lost time incident rate (LTIR)
0.10
0.11
0.05
0.08
0.06
Fatalities2
2
0
0
0
1
Motor vehicle safety
Collisions per million miles (CPMM)3
6.93
7.01
5.07
6.11
4.58
Note: Injury rates are subject to change over time as new cases are added, and case classifications change in accordance with our own requirements and applicable regulatory requirements.
1 LTIR/RIR: Calculated per OSHA methodology.
2 In 2018, one fatality was transportation-related, one high-risk work related. In 2022, the fatality was transportation-related.
3 CPMM: Reflects both personal and business use of Company-owned or -leased vehicles.
Non-employees—Integrated Facility 
Management (IFM)
In 2022, our IFM partners had 3,646,747 work hours and 2,750,778 
permanent contractor work hours. The IFM RIR result was 0.59 and 
the LTIR was 0.28.
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Global safety performance (non-employees)
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Capital projects construction safety1,2 
RIR
0.73
0.42
0.60
0.28
0.50
DART3
0.28
0.15
0.24
0.11
0.21
Fatalities
0
0
0
0
0
Facility management contractor safety
RIR
0.71
0.55
0.35
0.6
0.59
LTIR
0.47
0.42
0.26
0.27
0.28
Fatalities
0
0
0
0
0
Note: Injury rates are subject to change over time as new cases are added, and case classifications change in accordance with our own requirements and applicable regulatory requirements.
1 LTIR/RIR: Calculated per OSHA methodology.
2 Primarily reflects capital projects over $100,000 managed by our global engineering group.
³ DART: days away, reassigned or transferred, calculated per OSHA 300 methodology.
Lost Time
Recordable
Injuries by business area (2022)
Cases
% of total1
Cases
% of total1
Manufacturing (MMD)
17
33%
83
52%
Animal Health including Animal Health Intelligence
16
31%
22
14%
Human Health (HH)
8
16%
29
18%
Research (MRL)
6
12%
19
12%
Facility Management
3
6%
2
1%
Global Support Functions (Legal, HR, IT, S&E et. al.)
1
2%
4
3%
Total
51
100%
159
100%
1 May not total 100 percent due to rounding.
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Lost Time
Recordable
Injuries by causal factors (2022)
Cases
% of total1
Cases
% of total1
Struck by/caught in
17
33%
47
30%
Slips/trips/falls
15
29%
32
20%
Ergonomic
8
16%
29
18%
Motor vehicle
3
6%
21
13%
Physical/environmental exposure
3
6%
8
5%
Chemical exposure
2
4%
5
3%
Other
2
4%
6
4%
Non-ergonomic
1
2%
6
4%
Biological exposure
0
0%
5
3%
Total
51
100%
159
100%
1 May not total 100 percent due to rounding.
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Training and education
Management approach 
GRI 404	
Our Global Learning and Development (GL&D) organization’s primary focus 
is to enable a diverse and accessible environment in which all can learn and 
thrive. We accomplish this by collaborating with business partners across the 
Company to understand critical business challenges and to align and prioritize 
learning solutions to support addressing those challenges. We then design, 
develop and execute innovative learning experiences to strengthen our 
workforce and drive business impact.
GL&D ensures that all learning opportunities are developed to allow for diversity 
of thought and an enriched accessible learning experience. We identify learning 
needs of our global diverse employee population through extensive discovery 
Average hours of employee training
GRI 404-1	
Training and education1
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Total course completions for all learners (in millions)
4.4
5.3
7.2
6.3
5.1
Hours of training for all learners (in millions)2
2.2
2.7
3.6
3.2
2.5
Average course completions per learner
43
55
69
51
42
1 “All learners" is defined as all active regular and part-time employees, as well as applicable contingent workers.
2 Based on average of 30 minutes per course.
of learner personas, requirements and environments. Our strategy allows 
us to anticipate, identify, prioritize, design, develop and implement learning 
solutions that provide growth and development across five moments of an 
employee’s career.
These moments include:
•	 In-role growth
•	 Career acceleration
•	 Leader development
•	 Company and culture
•	 Mandatory training
GL&D understands employee skills and capabilities must support our 
Company's aspiration and purpose. As a result, we continuously evaluate our 
organizational capability needs and retool the learning culture and strategy 
to support our employees.
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Our current talent management practices provide performance management, 
leadership development, talent assessments, and succession planning. Global 
Talent Management designs and implements the enterprise-wide talent 
management and leadership strategy aligned to business strategy to retain 
and attract talent, support and develop a diverse workforce and create a 
strong succession pipeline. Talent practices are supported by a human capital 
management system, which enables managers and employees to keep track 
of priorities, development plans, performance ratings, career aspirations, job 
experiences, skills, language proficiency, certifications and education.
Managers and employees are encouraged to meet throughout the year to 
discuss progress and accomplishments against their priorities and actions 
to enable development. Emphasis is placed on creating a culture of ongoing 
coaching and future-focused feedback. At the end of the year, colleagues 
summarize their achievements and assess the impact they have had on the 
organization, their team and their own development.
Managers conduct annual performance reviews of employees at all levels 
(except those subject to collective bargaining agreements) to guide individual 
decisions relating to development, compensation and rewards. Feedback 
on employee performance includes how well employees demonstrate our 
aspirational culture. We seek to emphasize not just what an employee 
achieves, but also how they achieve. Managers gather feedback about their 
employees and write performance reviews providing holistic feedback on 
employees’ accomplishments.
Transition assistance
Transition assistance programs may be provided to support employees who 
are exited as part of a workforce restructuring. Such benefits are subject to 
local plans, laws and country guidelines, but may include:
•	 Severance benefits, which may include severance pay based on employee 
level and service
•	 Outplacement job transition assistance
•	 Continued health and wellness benefits for a defined period of time
Talent development focus 
We advance the learning and development of our global talent at all levels of 
the organization to support the advancement of our future leader pipeline 
along with the realization of our diversity and inclusion strategy. 
Leadership development offerings
Business Leadership Program
This is a global, nomination-based program on advanced concepts in business 
and financial management and cross-functional leadership. Participants 
experience the language of finance through simulated experiences focused 
on developing and executing a global strategy through marketing, sales, 
manufacturing, supply chain and R&D across three different regions (North 
America, Europe and China) and managing the Company’s balance sheet, 
income statement and cash flow. 
Leadership Pathway
This program focuses on the director level. The purpose of this nomination-
based offering is to develop individuals to be change makers who engender 
inclusion and trust, inspire experimentation, feedback and learning, and 
achieve aspirational business outcomes for today and tomorrow. 
Rise
This program is an exclusive experiential program leveraging some of the 
best-in-class institutions from around the world and designed for our 
executive directors and associate vice presidents. Rise increases our talent 
pipeline and succession planning for vital roles with a focus on critical 
leadership capabilities. 
Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition 
assistance programs
GRI 404-2	
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General Management Acceleration Program
This program is an application-based, early-talent-development program 
sponsored by the Office of the CEO. The objective is to create a robust 
global acceleration program for internal and external talent, providing 
the right experiences and learning opportunities to help meet our future 
business demand. This two-year, cross-divisional and global rotational 
program enables participants to increase their business and financial acumen 
and develop critical strategic thinking abilities through targeted learning 
opportunities and networking with key leaders at our Company. 
First Line Essentials
This program develops the core, common and critical capabilities needed by 
all people managers at our Company, regardless of country, region or division. 
It is designed to enhance the foundational skills and knowledge base that all 
people managers will need to effectively perform their responsibilities.
MSD Executive Transition Accelerator
This coaching program helps senior leaders successfully transition into 
new roles by defining business and professional priorities—in line with our 
purpose, ways of working and values—and supported by Deloitte, industry, 
business and leadership experts. 
Affinity-based leadership development offerings
Women’s Leadership Program 
This global program is nomination-based and focused on enhancing 
women’s capabilities to recognize and seize strategic career opportunities 
by developing critical capabilities and confidence while contributing to 
the core objectives of our Company. Areas of focus include: navigating the 
organization while maintaining an authentic leadership style; increasing 
cultural competence; influencing and storytelling; and advancing the ability 
to recognize and manage gender differences and subtle “micro-inequities” by 
leading through courageous action. 
Diverse Leader Program (U.S. only)
This program is an interactive leadership journey designed to create a safe 
place where participants can hone their leadership skills while exploring what 
it means to be a person of color in a leadership role within the Company. This 
nomination-based program is open to mid-level managers of color in the U.S.
MSD Líderes Institute
This program is a six-month experience designed to accelerate the 
growth and development of Hispanic/Latino leaders. The program equips 
participants to drive their own careers and create personal and professional 
success by providing structured learning and consistent support from 
managers, sponsors, coaches and peers. Participants focus on exploring their 
identity and culture, their unique personal and workplace experiences, the 
obstacles to their career and personal development, and the strategies they 
can use to increase their contribution and personal growth.
Advancing Latino Leadership
This research-based virtual program offers a Latino-specific lens on 
leadership opportunities and challenges in the corporate sector. This 
program includes tailored modules designed to help participants develop 
self-awareness, self-empowerment and skill development. This program 
also includes follow-up discussions with small group work, ongoing meetings 
with participants’ managers and a plan for extended learning beyond the end 
of the program. Designed around peer-to-peer interactions, the program 
provides strategies and tips for how, when and with whom to leverage 
networks in support of one’s professional advancement.
Diverse Executive Coaching Circles
This program is designed for executive directors and associate vice presidents 
from underrepresented ethnic groups (UEGs). Participants gain valuable 
insights in various areas of career development, relationship management, 
strategic thinking and decision-making through the benefits of executive 
coaching. The intent is to support leaders as they ascend in the Company by 
connecting these leaders with advocates and sponsors to further define their 
career action plan.
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FOCUS
This program explores the development of leadership capabilities with 
our mid-level Black professionals. FOCUS hones in on leadership and 
brand development, and building a peer network with whom employees 
can exchange perspectives, challenges and insights. Participants create a 
values-based leadership philosophy while exploring Black executive themes 
related to identity and success. Emphasis is placed on giving and receiving 
feedback, influence and peer coaching strategies that support proficiency in 
management and leadership competencies.
BOOST
The BOOST program is an application-based LGBTQ+ leadership program. 
The first cohort was run in December 2022 in Greensboro, NC. This two-
month program is designed to provide a rigorous experience focused on 
building capabilities as well as enabling participants to apply their unique 
perspective and life experiences to their career. The program also provides 
aspiring leaders with skills to share their experiences to empower themselves 
and others while making our Company a premier place to work for those who 
identify as LGBTQ+.
Diverse Leader Acceleration Program 
This program was designed to support the readiness and career growth of 
Black and Hispanic individual contributors and mid-level leaders to achieve 
positions at higher levels. This program develops leadership capabilities 
and improves business acumen to manage the diversity-related challenges 
in participants' development. There is an emphasis on empowering strong 
reporting relationships through manager education and reporting-pairs 
dialogues. This program seeks to create a community of support through 
cohort interaction and peer coaching. Participants also leverage the influence 
of leaders serving as mentors and sponsors.
Promotion metrics1 
2019
2020
2021
2022
Men
47%
48%
47%
45%
Women
53%
52%
53%
54%
1 Breakdown by gender of all regular employees promoted during the fiscal year. “Regular employees" are defined as employees who do not have a predetermined end date to employment. To align with U.S. government 
reporting requirements, the data for gender diversity in this report uses the terms men and women. We recognize and embrace the gender spectrum and diversity in our employees, and have internally established voluntary 
Self-ID options for employees to self-report on their gender identity. The totals in this report may not equal 100 percent due to rounding or employees who have identified as non-binary or unknown gender.
Percentage of employees receiving regular 
performance reviews 
GRI 404-3	
Performance reviews
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
All employees1
94%
94%
95%
95%
96%
1 “All employees” are defined as all active full- and part-time workers only. 
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Diversity and equal opportunity
Our enterprise-wide plan demonstrates our commitment to diversity and 
inclusion as a business priority. Leading to enhanced collaboration, innovation 
and agility, the plan aligns our business objectives for diversity and inclusion 
to drive long-term, sustainable business performance. Our objectives 
for diversity and equal opportunity also support the UN Sustainable 
Development Goals (SDGs) to advance gender equality, provide fulfilling work 
and economic growth, reduce inequalities within and among countries, and 
strengthen our global partnerships. 
Our GD&I strategic framework focuses on the following priorities:
•	 Continue to build the diversity and inclusion capabilities of our 
global workforce
•	 Ensure accountability at all levels of the organization
•	 Integrate diversity and inclusion into our business practices to 
drive performance
•	 Work to influence the environment, culture and business landscape to 
help achieve a more inclusive and sustainable world
Management approach
GRI 405	
At our Company, we recognize the importance of embedding a culture of 
inclusion and belonging at every level of the organization. We look to have 
the diversity of our employees mirror the external world. This enables us 
to understand the needs of customers, health care providers and patients 
we serve, including those with different abilities. Ultimately, because of 
our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, we strive to take responsibility 
and operate our business in a way that ensures fairness and equality of 
opportunity for all employees. 
With our commitment to employee health paramount, we continue to focus 
on creating and implementing effective strategies and programs to protect 
employees, while furthering a safe and productive culture that embraces 
inclusion as a competitive advantage. We appreciate our employees for 
their determination and resilience, and their inventiveness, dedication and 
compassion deserve special note.
Global Diversity & Inclusion (GD&I) objectives
Our GD&I strategy is grounded in our commitment to a more globally 
diverse and more inclusive workforce for our employees. We are creating 
an environment of belonging, engagement, equity and empowerment 
so that we can ensure patients experience ultimate health outcomes. 
The GD&I strategy takes a holistic approach where everyone can contribute 
to our mission.
To achieve these objectives, we focus our efforts on the following:
•	 Our People: Strengthen the foundational elements of diversity
•	 Our Culture: Ensure accountability to drive an inclusive culture
•	 Our Business: Continue to leverage diversity and inclusion to ensure 
business value
•	 Our World: Transform the environment, culture and business landscape
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GD&I Ambassador teams
Our GD&I Center of Excellence (CoE) provides comprehensive and practical 
guidance and support for diversity and inclusion across all business practices 
and systems. The five GD&I Ambassador teams work to integrate diversity 
and inclusion into our business and people strategies. 
The Global Disability Inclusion Strategy Council
Representatives from across the business comprise The Global Disability 
Inclusion Strategy Council that works to create and support a disability-
inclusive culture. This Council offers guidance to honor the vital contributions 
of a disability-confident workforce, including universal design, digital 
accessibility, hiring of people with disabilities, communication and supplier 
diversity. It appreciates how full inclusion of people with disabilities increases 
creativity, innovation and productivity for employees, customers, external 
partners and suppliers. 
The GD&I Extended Human Resources Leadership Team
This team of human resource colleagues from across the enterprise supports 
the global organization by facilitating the successful adoption and integration 
of diversity and inclusion capabilities into all practices, programs, policies 
and systems. A key outcome is to enable a diverse, equitable and inclusive 
culture—one that attracts, engages, develops, motivates and retains 
talent globally.
Employee Business Resource Group (EBRG) Executive 
Leadership Council
Supported in a myriad of ways by the EBRG Executive Leadership Council, 
MSD’s 10 EBRGs represent almost 20,000 members worldwide. Embodying 
our commitment to different constituencies and enhancing communication 
and belonging, the EBRGs strengthen and diversify the global leadership 
pipeline, while providing culturally relevant insights and sensitivities that help 
drive our success. 
Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (GDE&I) 
Business Consortium
A diverse group of internal stakeholders representing major groups within 
MSD comprise this Consortium. Drawn together to improve both Company 
and individual performance, the Consortium integrates diversity, equity and 
inclusion principles and strategies into our business processes and objectives. 
This creates a competitive business advantage and we believe drives greater 
shareholder value. Derived from key business functions, Consortium 
members develop holistic and inclusive approaches to eliminate barriers and 
obstacles many patients and customers encounter in their pursuit of optimal 
health outcomes.
DE&I Divisional/Regional Council Steering Committee
Chairpersons of the senior level DE&I Councils across the divisions and 
regions comprise this committee, which works to ensure alignment with our 
enterprise-wide DE&I strategy and initiatives as well as collaboration and 
alignment across councils. 
Governance and commitments
Diversity and inclusion are a strategic business lever for performance and are 
endorsed at the highest levels of the organization. Diversity and inclusion 
are so important to our Company that they serve as a key dimension to our 
sustainability goals and our Ways of Working. Additionally, our Board of 
Directors has a clearly stated Diversity Policy that recognizes that maintaining 
a truly diverse membership with regards to educational and professional 
background, gender, race, age, sexual orientation, ethnic and national 
background, and other differentiating personal characteristics promotes 
inclusiveness. This enhances the Board’s deliberations and contributes to the 
Board’s overall effectiveness to better represent the long-term interests of 
the Company and its shareholders.
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Our CEO further reinforces our commitment to GD&I. Viewing GD&I as 
a strategic business imperative, he advocates for diversity and inclusion 
through the following commitments:
•	 Approving intentional efforts to ensure equality of opportunity 
•	 Driving accountability through meetings with his Executive Team of direct 
reports, our senior leaders, and engaging employees in Company-wide 
events to review key strategic initiatives centered on GD&I
•	 Conferring with our Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Diversity 
Officer on innovation opportunities and business solutions
Pay equity
We have had a longstanding commitment to fair and equitable pay for all 
employees doing similar work. This commitment is consistent with our core 
values of integrity, fairness and treating all people with dignity and respect. 
Having the right culture, systems and practices for talent recruitment and 
development are critical in driving our ability to compete in global markets 
where talent is increasingly scarce and diverse. Diversity, equity and inclusion 
are among our ethical and strategic imperatives.
Pay equity is a critical principle at our Company. We maintain a Pay Equity 
Council that is deeply engaged in our pay equity initiatives. The Pay Equity 
Council is jointly led by our vice president of Diversity and Inclusion and senior 
vice president of Global Rewards & HR Operations. Among its members are 
leaders within our GD&I, Compensation and Benefits, Talent Acquisition and 
Employment Legal organizations.
Pay equity is a topic that is rightly receiving a great deal of attention. While 
many other organizations have only recently begun to explore how to pay 
their employees equitably, providing fair and equitable pay has been one of 
the pillars of our compensation philosophy for many years.
Our efforts toward pay equity include:
•	 Establishing clear and transparent pay practices and policies to ensure 
that we are paying our employees equitably across all genders, races 
and ethnicities
•	 Basing compensation on job-related factors such as the nature of the job, 
work location, and employees’ relative skills and work experience
•	 Training our people managers on our diversity, equity and inclusion 
policies to ensure that decisions regarding employees, including those 
related to compensation, are based on legitimate job-related criteria and 
not personal characteristics such as gender, race or ethnicity
•	 Affirming our commitment to fair and equitable pay by encouraging 
dialogue between people managers and employees to address pay-related 
questions and concerns
In 2022, as part of our commitment to increase transparency and visibility 
into our pay equity efforts, we conducted several education sessions, 
equipped our leaders with pay equity resources and engaged with employees 
around the globe.
With the support of external experts and legal partners, we have continued 
to conduct annual pay equity studies in the U.S. and abroad. The pay equity 
studies take into account job-related factors as described above, and allow us 
to identify whether any adjustments to compensation would be sensible to 
ensure that we continue to pay our employees equitably. Where appropriate, 
based on the determinations of our pay equity studies, we make base salary 
adjustments to maintain pay equity across gender, race and ethnicity. 
In 2022, our pay equity study achieved nearly worldwide coverage, 
encompassing approximately 90 percent of our global employee population, 
or nearly 60,000 employees. In the U.S., our study showed that we have 
achieved greater than 99 percent pay equity for female and male employees, 
and that we have achieved greater than 99 percent pay equity for non-white 
(including Black, Hispanic and Asian employees) and white employees. 
Globally, targeted base-pay adjustments were rarely necessary. We remain 
committed to ensuring that pay equity is maintained for all employees.
Our continuing focus on pay equity furthers our goal of being the employer 
of choice for workers of diverse backgrounds, and it supports our efforts 
to attract and retain the best talent and reward performance consistent 
with our Leadership Standards. These are clear business imperatives for our 
Company, and we remain firmly committed to them.
> See our Diversity & Equity page on our corporate website for more information on 
our commitments to pay equity and gender equality. 
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Leadership development
As part of our strategy to drive business results and advance our purpose, 
we remain committed to leadership development to support equity for 
our employees across all dimensions of diversity, including those you can 
see and those you cannot. We continue to develop and offer leadership 
programs to promote equality and publicly report on our progress to achieve 
gender equality. 
> See GRI 404 on page 130 for more information on our leadership programs to 
promote equality.
Building a more inclusive workplace and a 
culture of belonging
A major priority at our Company is to ensure our employees feel a sense of 
belonging. We promote programs for people managers that support inclusion 
and that our leaders use to share their perspectives. Our Pulse surveys allow 
us to measure our employees' perceptions on inclusion and other critical 
workforce issues. The Pulse surveys are just one of the avenues we use to 
directly engage employees and remain accountable to their needs. They also 
allow us to be responsive to employee feedback on workforce issues and to 
integrate their input into decision-making. We are proud of the fact that 
across an average of our 2022 surveys, 81 percent of our employees stated 
that they feel a sense of belonging at our Company. Also, 87 percent of our 
employees felt their people leader actively supported diversity and inclusion 
in their work group.
Related to our focus on inclusion is our commitment to a decade-long 
practice of understanding, measuring and acting to sustain high employee 
engagement. We maintain a practice of listening deeply to our employees. 
This is critical to our own decision-making, and influences leaders across 
the organization. Many of our EBRGs offer listening forums to colleagues 
to foster authentic and courageous conversations in an emotionally 
safe environment.
Going forward, we are publicly committed to maintaining or exceeding our 
current employee engagement index score through 2025, as measured 
through Pulse surveys, which are conducted multiple times a year.
Employee retention, recognition and people 
leader capability
The past year reflects our ability to continually attract and retain highly 
qualified people, strengthen our competitiveness and mitigate employee 
turnover. We have held ourselves accountable to actions designed to provide 
equality of opportunity and have increased our diverse representation. Last 
year, we also shared our goals for improving diverse representation in senior 
management, including women and people of Black/African American and 
Latino/Hispanic descent.
We aim to create more opportunities for underrepresented groups by 
evaluating our hiring processes to determine where we can remove barriers. 
This includes training our people managers on strategies to mitigate 
unconscious bias in the candidate selection, hiring and recognition process.
In addition to our enterprise-wide, unconscious-bias education (first 
introduced to the organization in 2014), we have developed a Learning 
Journey framework focused on critical capabilities, behavioral expectations 
and targeted learning assets to continue to drive our strategic focus and 
investment in building a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment 
for all our employees.
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Allyship
In 2022, we continued to evolve our global allyship effort, with senior 
sponsorship from the chief diversity officer and the chief of staff to the 
chairman and CEO. This included the launch of the Ally Resource Center, 
an internal library of over 125 resources featuring active allyship and content 
from each of the 10 EBRGs. Our inaugural allyship webcast drew nearly 
800 attendees from over 40 countries.
Gender-sensitive recruitment and retention
We recognize that talent acquisition is pivotal in sourcing, attracting 
diverse talent and supporting hiring people managers, and in eliminating 
unconscious bias in the selection process.
Talent Acquisition uses a cutting-edge technology platform to scan 
the language used in job postings and to highlight suggested language 
changes that ensure our job descriptions are gender neutral and inclusive. 
This is in addition to a careful review of job postings to ensure there is no 
biased language. 
Opportunities for people with disabilities
We encourage a culture of transparency, and align with external 
organizations that share our vision for full disability inclusion to foster a 
culture of inclusion and belonging that supports people with disabilities.
The Valuable 500
In 2022, we became one of 75 companies to participate in a new mentoring 
program, Generation Valuable. This program pairs an employee with a 
disability with an executive for a mentorship. 
Disability inclusion in our supply chain
In 2022, we joined the Disability:IN Procure Access Initiative, a business-
to-business initiative facilitated by Disability:IN and their Digital 
Accessibility Program.
Digital accessibility
In 2021, we implemented a global digital accessibility policy, seeking to ensure 
equal access across the Company digital landscape—for the internal workforce 
as well as external patients and consumers and, in 2022, implemented the 
5-year digital accessibility roadmap. 
Universal design
Designing for accessibility, usability and inclusion in the built environment 
goes beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act. We created a universal 
design standard for our facilities around the globe, in order to make a 
difference in the lives of our employees and guests. This approach is 
especially critical for a workplace centered around science and invention, 
and our mission to save and improve lives.
A culture of employee well-being
To succeed, we prioritize the health, well-being and safety of our employees. 
We are committed to continuing the special emphasis we placed on 
our employees' well-being during the pandemic, including reinforcing a 
collaborative culture and ways of working that drive long-term success. 
> Please see our Well-being Report on our corporate website to see how we support 
employee well-being in the U.S. and around the globe.
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Expanding our pipeline of diverse talent
In the past year, we have continued outreach to Historically Black Colleges 
and Universities (HBCUs) by partnering with several organizations, 
including the College Diversity Network and the National Urban League, 
to focus on building deep partnerships with colleges, students, faculty and 
alumni of HBCUs. We also focus on barriers that may limit the employee 
candidate pool, including the geographic location of open positions and job 
prerequisites of prior pharmaceutical experience. To broaden our access 
to diverse talent, we post some positions with an option to work virtually, 
offer relocation services and carefully consider whether prior pharmaceutical 
experience is required. 
We leverage key partnerships such as:
•	 Ascend
•	 Best Buddies
•	 Disability: IN
•	 Executive Leadership Council (ELC)
•	 INROADS College Links
•	 Lesbians Who Tech
•	 National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME)
•	 National Urban League
•	 Out & Equal
•	 Women of Color in Pharma (WOCIP)
Skills-First
Skills-First is a paradigm shift in how our Company attracts, develops and 
advances talent with an increased focus on skills instead of a four-year degree 
or credentials for appropriate roles. This approach creates equitable access 
to meaningful career opportunities for a broader pool of diverse candidates. 
It also helps to fuel innovation within our Company by bringing in new ideas 
and perspectives. In 2022 alone, our Company posted 900 roles not requiring 
a four-year college degree. Key partnerships helping to accelerate our 
Skills-First transformation include OneTen and Year Up, among others.
OneTen Initiative
OneTen is a coalition of CEOs and leading companies helping to close 
the opportunity gap for Black talent in America and to ignite potential 
for generations to come. Under the leadership of our CEO and Chairman 
Rob Davis, we have made progress towards our commitment to OneTen’s 
mission of hiring, promoting, and advancing one million Black individuals who 
do not have four-year college degrees into family-sustaining careers over 
10 years. In 2022, we posted approximately 900 job roles without a bachelor's 
degree requirement. We also launched our first Skills-First apprenticeship 
program with apprentices in digital marketing, data analytics, and information 
technology. Consistent with our commitment to diversity, equity and 
inclusion, our Company is determined to be a role model within OneTen and 
adopt a Skills-First talent approach within appropriate business areas.
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Year Up
We are among the 250 corporations partnering with the innovative 
organization Year Up. This nonprofit seeks to ensure equitable access 
to economic opportunity, education and justice for all young adults. 
They accomplish this by closing the job market opportunity gap for 
economically-disadvantaged youth by offering six months each of intensive 
training and corporate internship in either information technology, financial 
operations, sales and customer support, business operations, or software 
development and support at major corporations. In 2022, the Company 
provided approximately 90 student internships to candidates sourced by 
Year Up, with plans for continued growth and expansion of this partnership 
in the future.
Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related 
Sciences (MANRRS)
Our Animal Health Division partners with MANRRS to support the 
identification of diverse talent from the agricultural sciences and related 
fields and to expose them to the variety of career paths available in the animal 
health industry in addition to the veterinary field. The growing areas of 
connected technology and other smart data products and services for animal 
health and well-being—where MSD Animal Health is a global leader—are 
examples of exciting career paths that are available to today’s talent.
MSD Animal Health Veterinary Scholarship Program
Our scholarship program offers grants to all outstanding veterinary students 
to further their education as they pursue careers in animal medicine. In 
2022, over $1.2 million in scholarships were awarded to 311 students from 
70 different countries.
NextGen Network global reverse mentoring program
We are seeing the impact and value of having multiple generations in the 
workplace. In 2018, the NextGen Network created a global reverse mentoring 
program called GEN2GEN. The success of the program is evidenced 
by program participation across 58 countries. GEN2GEN empowers 
generational change uniquely by offering co-mentoring partnerships where 
our younger generations advise our more-tenured generations.
Extending our GD&I commitment beyond 
our employees
Our work in equity does not stop at the doors of our Company. It continues 
outside our employee base and into communities all over the world, including 
communities that have historically been underserved or underfunded. We 
engage with partners to advance the efforts of our global diversity and 
inclusion commitments and to support underserved communities all over 
the globe.
CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion
Five years ago, we signed a pledge to join the CEO Action for Diversity & 
Inclusion. This commitment extends beyond our employees to supporting 
businesses around the world by making a difference in global economic 
inclusion. We continue to work with this vital organization to share 
best practices and identify new opportunities to foster diversity, equity 
and inclusion. 
Economic inclusion and supplier diversity
In 2022, 14 percent of our total procurement spend went to minority-, 
women-, veteran-, LGBTQ+- and disability-owned business enterprises.
It is important to provide definitions and context for diverse suppliers. 
Diverse suppliers are businesses that are 51 percent managed, controlled 
and operated by a person or persons of the following categories:
•	 Minority: Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American
•	 Women
•	 LGBTQ+
•	 Veteran, service-disabled veteran
•	 Disability-owned business 
> For more information on our supplier diversity program, please see GRI 204 on page 77.
> Learn more about our commitment to diversity in clinical trials on our corporate website.
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Diversity of Governance bodies and employees
GRI 405-1	
Gender and ethnicity
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Women in the workforce
49%
49%
50%
50%
50%
Women on the Board1
33%
46%
46%
43%
46%
Women in executive roles2
20%
20%
33%
33%
23%
Women on the senior management team3
27%
30%
31%
36%
34%
Women in management roles4
41%
42%
42%
44%
45%
Members of underrepresented ethnic groups on the Board1
17%
23%
31%
21%
15%
Members of underrepresented ethnic groups in executive roles (U.S.)2
30%
40%
25%
42%
39%
Members of underrepresented ethnic groups on the senior management 
team (U.S.)3
19%
21%
20%
25%
28%
Members of underrepresented ethnic groups in the workforce (U.S.)
28%
29%
30%
32%
34%
Members of underrepresented ethnic groups in management roles (U.S.)4
22%
23%
25%
26%
27%
New hires that were female
51%
51%
50%
53%
52%
Promotions that were female
52%
53%
52%
53%
54%
New hires that were members of underrepresented ethnic groups (U.S.)
36%
35%
40%
46%
47%
Promotions that were members of underrepresented ethnic groups (U.S.)
28%
30%
32%
34%
37%
Note: We have publicly disclosed EEO-1 information since 1999. Our 2022 data is available on the Sustainability Resources page of our corporate website. To align with U.S. government reporting requirements, the data for gender 
diversity in this report uses the terms men and women. We recognize and embrace the gender spectrum and diversity in our employees, and have internally established voluntary Self-ID options for employees to self-report on their 
gender identity.
1 Data for Board members are derived from our proxy statements filed the following year.
2 “Executive” is defined as the Company's executive team listed on our corporate website.
3 “Senior management team” is defined as vice presidents and above who are not on the executive team.
4 “Management role” is defined as all other managers with at least one direct report.
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Underrepresented ethnic group (UEG) representation, 
by ethnicity (U.S.) (2022)
Total
Black/African 
American
Latino/
Hispanic
Asian 
All other 
Board1
15%
15%
0%
0%
0%
Executives2
39%
23%
0%
15%
0%
Senior management3
28%
6%
8%
13%
0%
All managers4
27%
5%
6%
14%
2%
All employees
34%
9%
6%
17%
2%
New hires 
47%
12%
9%
23%
3%
Promotions
37%
9%
6%
19%
3%
Note: We have publicly disclosed EEO-1 information since 1999. Our 2022 data is available on the Sustainability Resources page of our corporate website. To align with U.S. government reporting requirements, the data for gender diversity 
in this report uses the terms men and women. We recognize and embrace the gender spectrum and diversity in our employees, and have internally established voluntary Self-ID options for employees to self-report on their gender identity.
1Data for Board members are derived from our proxy statements filed the following year.
2 “Executive” is defined as the Company's executive team listed on our corporate website.
3 “Senior management team” is defined as vice presidents and above who are not on the executive team.
4 “Management role” is defined as all other managers with at least one direct report.
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Human rights assessment
Management approach
GRI 412	
As stated in our Human Rights Public Policy Statement, we strive to avoid 
causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through our own 
activities and seek to prevent or mitigate adverse impacts that are directly 
linked to our operations and products.
Human rights issue
Policies / standards
Governance
Lead function
Health and safety
Global Safety & Environment
Forced labor and human trafficking
Human Resources
Discrimination and harassment
Human Resources
Child labor
Human Resources
Freedom of association
Human Resources
Working hours
Human Resources
Privacy
Global Privacy Office
Security
Global Security
Access to grievance mechanisms
Office of Ethics
Suppliers and business partners
Global Supplier Management
Human Rights 
Public Policy
Human 
Resources Policy
Labor & Human 
Rights Policy
Health & 
Safety Policy
Procurement & Supplier 
Relations Policy
Business Partner 
Code of Conduct
Information Management 
& Protection Policy
Privacy & Data 
Protection Policy
Reporting & Responding 
to Misconduct Policy
Prevention of Violence 
in Workplace Standard
Possession of 
Firearms Standard
We have put in place appropriate policies, processes, training and monitoring 
systems to address key human rights issues. Support and respect for the 
protection of human rights is embedded and reflected in our operational 
policies and procedures, as summarized in the table below.
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Operations that have been subjected to human 
rights reviews
GRI 412-1	
We perform supplier labor and human rights audits (using independent 
third-party service providers) at select direct material suppliers’ facilities 
located in countries that are known to present an increased risk of human 
rights abuses.
> For more information, please see GRI 414 on page 145.
Employee training on human rights policies and procedures
GRI 412-2	
Business-related human rights issues are embedded within our internal 
training programs to help maintain employee awareness and understanding 
of our Company’s expectations. Examples of human-rights-related topics 
covered by existing training programs include health and safety; privacy and 
data protection; harassment and discrimination; and diversity and inclusion; 
as well as training that explains how to confidentially report concerns, 
emphasizing the importance of speaking up. Completion of assigned training 
is closely monitored and reported.
Investment agreements and contracts that include 
human rights clauses or underwent screening
GRI 412-3	
Our Global Supplier Management Group (GSMG) function oversees contract 
development and execution activities associated with the sourcing and 
selection of our suppliers of goods and services. Through our standard 
contracts and agreements, we seek a written commitment from suppliers 
to respect and abide by the principles set forth in our Business Partner Code 
of Conduct (BPCC). Our BPCC states that business partners are expected to 
uphold the human rights of workers, treat workers with dignity, respect the 
protection of internationally proclaimed human rights and ensure that they 
are not complicit in human rights abuses.
> For more information on our social assessments for suppliers, please visit GRI 414 on 
page 145.
Remedy
As part of our efforts to protect against business-related human rights 
abuses, we have established a grievance mechanism that allows employees 
and workers to report concerns in a confidential manner without fear of 
retaliation. This grievance mechanism, and associated reporting channels, 
are fundamental to ensuring that employees and workers have access to an 
effective remedy whenever human rights impacts occur. 
> For more information on mechanisms for raising concerns, please see GRI 2-26 on 
pages 44-45.
We expect our suppliers to encourage all workers to report concerns 
or suspected illegal activities without threat of reprisal, intimidation or 
harassment, and to investigate and take corrective action if needed. In 
addition, we expect our suppliers to provide workers with information on 
how to confidentially report concerns and ensure that reporting workers are 
protected from retaliation.
Governance
Our oversight and monitoring of business-related human rights risks is 
supported by relevant internal functions and business units, including Human 
Resources; Global Safety & Environment; Global Supplier Management; 
Supply Chain Management; Ethics & Compliance; Global Security; Global 
Privacy Office, Information Risk Management; Enterprise Risk Management; 
and the Office of Social Business Innovation.
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Supplier social assessment
as part of our third-party risk management activities. We also recognize that 
potential risks may exist beyond Tier 2 suppliers.
We continue work to detect and address the risks in our supply chain through:
Supplier selection 
Selecting suppliers that are socially responsible and who share our 
commitments to ethics and integrity. We strive to obtain the services, goods, 
active ingredients, components, finished goods or other products in a way 
that is lawful and fair.
Expectations
Setting and communicating our expectations of suppliers, including those 
related to child labor, forced labor and human trafficking. We use our 
Business Partner Code of Conduct to communicate our expectations. It has 
been translated for all countries in which we operate.
Supply chain mapping
Mapping our supply chain to identify which of our suppliers operate in 
countries that are known to present a significant risk of LHR issues. We use 
this information to help us decide upon the level of due diligence that may 
be necessary.
Due diligence
Conducting appropriate supplier due diligence to help determine the level of 
risk presented by suppliers, including potential new (prospective) suppliers 
as well as our existing suppliers. Our supplier due diligence process for LHR 
targets direct materials suppliers, including external manufacturing suppliers 
and contract manufacturing organizations. 
A self-assessment questionnaire is used to gather information on freely 
chosen employment, child labor, employment practices, employee 
disclosures, fair treatment, wages, benefits and working hours. Suppliers’ 
responses are used to judge whether that supplier has programs and/or 
procedures in place to address potential risks for labor and human rights, 
including modern slavery and human trafficking. The information gathered as 
part of due diligence is used to determine the acceptability of suppliers’ local 
practices. Results are then applied by GSMG to inform our supplier selection 
and risk management processes.
Management approach
GRI 414	
Supplier due diligence assessment for labor 
practices and human rights
We respect human rights and support transparency in our supply chain. 
We are committed to upholding the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative 
(PSCI) Principles and we require our suppliers to operate in compliance with 
all applicable laws. We have a formal program led by our Global Supplier 
Management Group (GSMG) to evaluate the risks for labor and human rights 
(LHR) in our supply chain. We have a Conflict Minerals due diligence program 
and complete the associated annual reporting.
Our policies
Our policies serve as our standards of conduct for engaging with stakeholders. 
They are founded on our Code of Conduct (Our Values & Standards) and are 
used to navigate and guide our decisions. They help us identify, address and 
mitigate risks.
> For information on our policies, please visit our Policies & Positions and 
Sustainability Resources pages on our corporate website.
Human rights and labor risks
We recognize that companies with supply chains that extend into high-risk 
countries potentially face greater LHR risks. Our Company can be exposed to 
these risks through our supply chain, as some of our third-party suppliers and 
service providers operate in higher-risk countries.
To help manage and address potential risks associated with third-party 
business relationships, GSMG has an established cross-functional, third-
party risk management committee and program. LHR risks are considered 
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Contracts
Seeking written commitment from suppliers to respect the principles set 
forth in our Business Partner Code of Conduct through our contracts/
agreements. Our contract templates contain a Business Partner Code of 
Conduct compliance clause that includes provisions related to modern slavery.
Auditing
Performing LHR audits at select supplier facilities to verify their conformance 
with our expectations (as stated in our Business Partner Code of Conduct), 
and working with them to address identified nonconformances. We use 
independent third-party audit firms to perform announced LHR audits at 
suppliers’ facilities. When preparing our audit schedule, we consider the 
industry risk, the category of materials supplied, the country in which the 
supplier operates and results of past due diligence.
Remedial actions
Tracking and reporting on the closure of remedial actions taken by suppliers 
to address identified nonconformances (gaps/concerns) revealed by supplier 
LHR auditing. 
Monitoring
Assigning relationship managers from within GSMG to oversee and monitor 
the performance of key suppliers. We continue to hold suppliers accountable 
for meeting their contractual obligations. 
Governance
Using our Third-Party Risk Committee to help govern and oversee the 
management of risks associated with third-party relationships. This committee 
is chaired by our senior vice president for Global Procurement. The role of 
our Third-Party Risk Committee (and associated Third-Party Risk Team) is 
to assist senior leadership by providing independent and objective oversight, 
monitoring and reporting in relation to the risks presented by third parties.
Engagement
Engaging and seeking input from relevant stakeholders, including GSMG, 
Ethics & Compliance, Legal, Global Safety and Environment and Office of 
Social Business Innovation.
Collaboration
Working with PSCI to develop training, tools and maturity models, and share 
knowledge across our industry and with our suppliers.
Training
As part of onboarding, training on our Company's Business Partner Code of 
Conduct, third-party risk management, and mitigating modern slavery risks 
in supply chains is provided to sourcing professionals that have responsibility 
for supplier selection, oversight and monitoring. 
Next steps
We will continue working on our efforts to identify, assess and address LHR 
risks within our operations and supply chains.
These efforts will include:
•	 Investigating all reported concerns promptly
•	 Conducting supplier labor and human rights due diligence to identify and 
address risks
•	 Auditing select suppliers to verify conformance with standards for LHR
•	 Holding suppliers accountable for addressing nonconformances revealed 
by LHR audits
•	 Participating in the activities/initiatives of PSCI’s Human Rights and Labor 
Sub-Committee
New suppliers screened using social criteria
GRI 414-1	
> Please see GRI 2-6 on page 35 for information on our supply chain risks and 
associated KPIs.
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Management approach 
GRI 415	
Our Company's Political Contributions Committee engages in the political 
process—at both the federal and state levels—to educate policymakers, 
lawmakers and candidates on policy issues critical to our industry and our 
Company’s core purpose to invent new medicines and vaccines to save lives. 
The Center for Political Accountability, at the Zicklin Center for Business 
Ethics Research at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 
has recognized our Company as a "Trendsetter" for the last six years 
in their annual CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and 
Accountability report.
We continue to make bipartisan contributions that are carefully considered 
on a case-by-case basis. In establishing our political giving priorities, our 
contributions committee considers various factors to prioritize candidates 
who support policies that enhance innovation and patient access to health 
care. We certainly do not agree with every position that every recipient of 
PAC support takes on every important social and business issue.
Political contributions
GRI 415-1	
groups include the Republican Governors Association and the Democratic 
Governors Association, as well as PhRMA expenditures in California that are 
derived from MSD's dues to this association.
Our Company representatives involved in state-government-affairs activities 
made the recommendations for specific contributions based on the budget 
and priorities approved by the Political Contributions Committee. Outside 
legal counsel conducted a thorough review of all proposed contributions 
to ensure that they were permitted under state law. Corporate political 
contributions were then approved by U.S. Legal after outside legal counsel 
review and approval. 
In addition to these contributions, in 2022 we also provided corporate 
contributions to candidates or political parties in Australia and Japan. These 
contributions were reviewed and approved in accordance with all relevant 
internal policies and in compliance with the electoral funding and disclosure 
laws of their respective countries.
> Information on all of our contributions can be found on the Transparency Disclosures 
page of our corporate website.
We spent a total of $989,900 in U.S. corporate political contributions in 
2022. A large portion of these funds were used to support the campaigns 
of 410 candidates in 21 states plus the District of Columbia. The party 
breakdown of the contributions for individual candidates was 49.76 percent 
Democratic, 49.76 percent Republican, and 0.49 percent Independent. 
Republicans held a majority in 61 chambers, Democrats held the majority 
in 37 chambers and in one chamber power is divided equally between 
the parties.
Support was also provided under this program to state legislative leadership 
committees, industry-affiliated political action committees, and several 
national organizations representing state elected officials. Examples of these 
Public policy
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Customer health and safety
of quality standards, and have policies and procedures in place to define, 
measure, control and sustain product quality excellence. Our Global Quality 
organization is responsible for establishing the standards to ensure that our 
Company’s products are manufactured, tested, released and distributed in 
compliance with regulatory requirements.
We continuously strive to enhance these standards in order to ensure 
ongoing compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs). 
We provide appropriate, ongoing training on cGMPs for our employees so 
they are prepared to perform their duties effectively. Our quality system not 
only ensures that all applicable employees are trained, but also monitors the 
effectiveness of the training provided. 
Our medicines and vaccines are widely tested before they are approved for 
marketing. This testing is governed by a comprehensive regulatory scheme 
and by our research policies. We assess the safety of our products in rigorous 
nonclinical and clinical trials prior to seeking regulatory approval. Following 
approval of our drugs, vaccines or devices our Company continues to monitor 
their safety profiles.
Management approach
GRI 416	
Our quality strategy is focused on maintaining sustained quality and 
compliance excellence through focused digital technologies, effective 
oversight and risk mitigation, engaged and empowered colleagues and 
communities, and a mature Quality Management posture. Our quality 
strategy is a key enabler to ensuring patient safety and the overall quality 
and continuous supply of our products.
We operate in a highly complex and ever-changing regulatory landscape 
driven by many different factors, including novel scientific discoveries 
and technological advancements. Specifically, we are leveraging new 
technological advancements such as integrated IT tools, artificial 
intelligence (AI) and streamlined digital platforms to further enhance how 
we manufacture high-quality products. We apply and adhere to a strict set 
Product recalls
2018
2019
2020
2021
20223
Global number of product recalls1
11
7
16
15
5
Number of product recalls exclusively outside of the U.S.
9
6
14
13
2
Global number of units subject to recall2
1,726,354
106,694
5,895,375
1,839,656
109,473
1 Periods following June 2021 exclude products included in spin-off to Organon & Co.
2 "Units subject to recall" is defined as units within scope of a recall that are outside of company control.
3 All 2022 recalls were voluntarily initiated.
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Animal Health
Research and development
The Animal Health vice presidents of R&D (Pharmaceuticals/Biologicals) hold 
joint responsibility for the benefit-risk determination for our Animal Health 
pipeline and marketed Veterinary Medicinal Products (VMPs), and oversee all 
Animal Health clinical programs.
We test our investigative animal health pharmaceuticals and vaccines 
vigorously for safety, quality and efficacy before submitting them for 
approval, which can be obtained only after thorough review by independent 
regulatory authorities.
This testing and refining of a product can take years to complete. When 
all of the required testing is completed and found to be satisfactory by 
the appropriate government regulatory agency, the product is approved 
to be sold. Once a product is on the market, we follow all applicable 
pharmacovigilance rules and findings are assessed and reported to 
regulatory authorities. 
Regulatory affairs
A consistent, science-based regulatory environment is one of the key 
conditions necessary for innovation and for providing our customers with 
high-quality products. We support global harmonization of the regulatory 
process for veterinary medicines through our global trade association, 
HealthforAnimals, which is recognized as an observer organization. This 
allows HealthforAnimals to offer input and provide perspectives in meetings 
with international standards-setting bodies, including:
•	 International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements 
for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products (VICH)
•	 Codex Alimentarius
> For more information, please visit the Ethical Treatment of Animals page on our 
corporate website.
Quality
All of our pharmaceuticals and vaccines must be tested for product quality 
as well as for their safety and efficacy in treated animals. Our submissions 
to regulatory agencies also include rigorous human food safety testing for 
those products used in food-producing animals, in addition to user safety and 
environmental safety assessments.
Pharmacovigilance
Our Animal Health Global Pharmacovigilance (GPV) team manages a global 
system for the collection, review and reporting of adverse event (AE) reports 
received by our Company worldwide, and for the continuous assessment 
of product safety. GPV leads all safety monitoring and signal management 
activities for the Animal Health VMP portfolio from the time of initial product 
approval through the end of the product life cycle. 
> For more information, please visit the Ethical Treatment of Animals page on our 
corporate website.
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In 2022, we continued our commitment to increasing our focus in this area 
and have strategically enhanced our ability to make a long-term impact on 
patient safety through various education campaigns. We are committed 
to cooperating with relevant government agencies, other pharmaceutical 
manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, health professionals, consumer 
groups and key related organizations in fighting the problem of counterfeit 
pharmaceutical products, and in educating the public about the risks of 
counterfeit products and how to protect against them.
This effort includes a multi-pronged approach to communicating the threat 
that counterfeit medicines pose and to mitigating this threat as effectively as 
possible while recognizing that it cannot be entirely eliminated.
Appropriate collaboration and information-sharing in order to raise public and 
stakeholder awareness of the issue and risks are a crucial focus of our product 
integrity program. Through active partnerships with other pharmaceutical 
companies, and with organizations focused on security, patient safety 
and public health, we provide effective advocacy on high-priority anti-
counterfeiting policy initiatives.
These collaborative efforts support the production of reports, white papers 
and data-circulation initiatives, as well as promote the intelligence sharing 
necessary to combat threats from counterfeit medicines.
The anti-counterfeiting data below details the number of new suspected 
and substantiated counterfeit events in 2022 and for the previous four 
years. It reflects the current status of each event for all years presented as of 
February 2023.
Throughout 2022, Global Security addressed 2,102 product integrity events 
in 90 countries, involving counterfeit, diversion, supply chain security, 
tampering and brand security (non-MSD, unapproved generic product). 
Approximately 20 percent of these events have been proactively investigated 
by Global Security to identify new or emerging product integrity threats, or 
to further characterize and mitigate known threats.
We enable meaningful enforcement actions as a key strategic priority, and in 
2022 our product integrity activity led to 166 arrests and the seizure of more 
than 11,009 units of counterfeit or illicit versions of our products. There were 
65 prosecutions resulting from product integrity investigations in 2022. 
Counterfeit products
We invest in an industry-leading, rigorous and intelligence-led product 
integrity strategy that is solely focused on protecting patients from the harm 
associated with counterfeit and diverted medicines. Our Global Security 
Group oversees our global product integrity strategy and leads its execution. 
The strategy seeks to protect our patients and our Company’s reputation 
from the negative impacts of counterfeit medicines using a three-pronged 
strategy focused on:
1.	 Securing the supply chain
2.	 Investigations and enforcement
3.	 Raising public and stakeholder awareness
Process for alerting customers and business 
partners of potential or known risks associated 
with counterfeit products
SASB 260a.2	
Methods and technologies used to maintain 
traceability of products throughout the supply chain 
and prevent counterfeiting
SASB 260a.1	
Recalls issued, and total units recalled
SASB 250a.3	
Fatalities associated with products as reported in the 
FDA Adverse Event Reporting System
SASB 250a.2	
Products listed in the FDA’s MedWatch Safety Alerts for 
Human Medical Products database
SASB 250a.1	
Incidents of non-compliance concerning the health and 
safety impacts of products and services
GRI 416-2	
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Another crucial aspect of investigations is the forensic analysis of questionable 
products. This forensic testing is aimed at concluding whether a questionable 
product is counterfeit, diverted or otherwise illicit. Counterfeit products 
are characterized to gain further intelligence and understanding of the 
counterfeiters and the threats to public health. We also have forensic 
detection devices in the field to analyze and detect counterfeits in regions 
around the world.
As counterfeiters improve their skills and techniques, our forensic scientists 
have pioneered the use of several analytical tools for the detection and 
characterization of counterfeit medicines and continue to explore new 
analytical tools that would increase their forensic testing capabilities. 
Lab findings are shared with regulatory and/or law-enforcement agencies 
and may be used to support subsequent enforcement actions and 
legal proceedings.
There were 771 unique questioned samples received as evidence and 
prepared for forensic testing in relation to active events in 2022. As part of 
our proactive awareness program, throughout 2022 Global Security trained 
approximately 1,734 law-enforcement personnel in more than 44 countries 
regarding the patient safety risks associated with counterfeit and diverted 
medication. Global Security also launched an internal training program on 
the Counterfeit, Diversion and Tampering (CDT) reporting process in late 
2017. To date, more than 96,000 employees and contractors have completed 
this training globally.
Supply chain security and serialization
Our proactive focus on managing supply chain security risk is based on our 
careful implementation and management of strict policies and procedures 
designed to protect the legitimate distribution of our products. We require 
customers to purchase our products directly from our Company or from 
authorized distributors listed publicly on our corporate website.
We maintain our commitment to ensure compliance with established 
Company policies, standards and procedures throughout the supply chain 
by identifying vulnerabilities and threats to the supply network. Resources 
are positioned globally to monitor and manage our security programs and 
investigate incidents when they occur. As a certified Importer under the 
Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) Program, we are 
validated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as an elite Tier 3 Member 
recognized as implementing best practices in supply chain security. This adds 
an important layer to the security of our products and materials imported to 
the U.S.
Anti-counterfeiting1
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Investigations of suspected counterfeit products2
269
560
555
935
691
Substantiated cases of counterfeit products
231
214
75
112
196
1 Prior-year data have been adjusted to reflect the current status of each event as of March 2023.
2 Evidence from ongoing investigations of suspected counterfeit products can result in recategorization.
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Serialization—adding a 2D barcode with a unique identification number on 
each package that goes to market—is one of the tools we are investing in 
to secure our supply chain and prevent or detect counterfeiting. A serial 
number on individual packages may enable anyone along the supply 
chain—from a distributor to a pharmacist to a patient—to scan the code 
and verify it as a serial number corresponding to a genuine product of 
our Company. Serialization can add a robust layer to our product security 
platform. When associated with a regulatory mandate that specifies effective 
implementation and reporting to a national database, this method of product 
tracking can become a more meaningful product security tool.
Many jurisdictions around the world are requiring serialization on 
pharmaceutical packages or are considering such mandates. However, each 
country’s regulations are different, which makes it very challenging for our 
packaging sites and distribution networks to meet these diverse and intricate 
requirements, with additional complexity as reporting requirements are 
phased in.
We launched the Global Product Serialization Initiative in 2012, with the 
goal of meeting these varying requirements in a robust, standardized and 
effective way based upon GS-1 standards. 
Through these efforts, we are currently in compliance with applicable 
regulatory requirements related to serialization. We are also working with 
industry associations and regulatory authorities to better understand 
potential new requirements and to advocate for simple, standardized and 
common-sense regulations that can be effective at protecting against 
counterfeit medicines.
In addition to our compliance with regulatory requirements related to 
serialization, we are also exploring opportunities to deploy voluntary 
serialization and secondary verification technologies to further enhance 
the security and traceability of our products. These multifactor verification 
systems would be enabled by blockchain nodes and applications that allow 
for secure and immutable product tracing that could be accessed by all supply 
chain partners and end users. We are currently running several proof-of-
concept and pilot studies involving these emerging technologies, as well 
as participating in active industry associations, such as PharmaLedger, to 
further develop and apply these digital solutions.
Clinical trial site monitoring, design, conduct 
and oversight
We have a longstanding commitment to sharing the results of our clinical 
trials, regardless of their outcome, in a timely manner. If a clinical trial of 
a marketed product is terminated early for safety reasons, we promptly 
disclose medically important information to regulatory authorities and the 
public, update the status on ClinicalTrials.gov within 30 days and submit a 
manuscript to a journal (or post a summary online) within 12 months after the 
last patient’s last visit occurs. If the trial was terminated for efficacy reasons, 
the results will be disclosed within 12 months after the last patient’s last 
visit occurs. 
Summaries of terminated trials will provide information about patient 
disposition, safety and adverse experiences, as well as an explanation as 
to why the trial was terminated early. We comply with all applicable laws 
and regulations associated with the registration of clinical trials in publicly 
accessible registries and subsequent posting of the results from these trials. 
We have put in place the processes necessary for compliance with the Food 
and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 and the EU Clinical Trials 
Regulation No 536/2014 (EU-CTR), including those related to clinical trial 
registration and posting results. 
For those who analyze, report or publish the results of clinical trials, a clinical 
trial registry also provides information on trials in progress and the ability 
to track such trials over the course of development. Company-sponsored 
and -conducted clinical trials involving patients assigned treatment with 
investigational and marketed products are registered at trial initiation on 
ClinicalTrials.gov, EUclinicaltrials.eu and ENCePP.eu.
In accordance with our public policy position statement on clinical trial ethics, 
all investigational studies in human subjects are conducted in a manner 
consistent with applicable laws, regulations and guidelines for the protection 
of human subjects, including those issued by the International Council 
for Harmonisation: Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP). However, individual 
country regulations and guidelines should remain the primary determinant 
of specific requirements for the conduct of medical research. In all regions, 
we have a commitment, where appropriate, to the study of diverse patient 
populations, including underrepresented groups, women and children. As a 
result, we strive to obtain information among diverse populations, ensuring 
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a thorough evaluation of the safety and efficacy of our medicines and 
vaccines. These efforts allow us to seek regulatory approvals throughout the 
world and thereby offer our medicines globally to patients who need them.
When appropriate, an internal Data-Monitoring Committee (DMC) of 
our research laboratories’ senior managers reviews unblinded data from 
ongoing trials in a pre-specified, scientifically acceptable manner. The goals 
of the DMC are to protect the safety of trial participants and to assess 
whether the risk/benefit profile is favorable. The DMC’s recommendations 
are communicated internally to relevant scientists and can be distributed 
externally to clinical investigators, review boards or regulatory agencies, 
as appropriate.
> Please visit the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) MedWatch 
website for more information on product safety alerts. You may visit the 
FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) website for up-to-date 
information on fatalities associated with product use.
> For more information on our approach to clinical trials, please visit the 
Clinical Trials page on our corporate website.
GCP/Pharmacovigilance (PV) inspections
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
GCP/PV inspections by regulatory agencies of the Company or 
clinical trial investigators that led to significant fines, penalties, 
warning letters or product seizures
0
0
0
0
0
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Code of ethics governing promotion of off-label use 
of products
SASB 270a.2	
Marketing and labeling
Veterinary medicinal product safety and 
risk management
The Animal Health Global Pharmacovigilance Team manages a global system 
for the collection, review and reporting of AEs, and for the continuous 
assessment of product safety. Global Pharmacovigilance leads all safety 
monitoring and signal management activities for the Animal Health VMP 
portfolio, from the time of initial product approval through the end of the 
product life cycle.
Management approach
GRI 417	
Our chief medical officer is responsible for the benefit-risk determination 
of our Human Health pipeline and marketed products. The chief medical 
officer provides medical oversight for all clinical programs, supervises the 
development and implementation of medical policies (including those related 
to data transparency and the sharing of clinical data), and has responsibility 
for the design, execution and implementation of pre-registration expanded 
access (“compassionate use”) programs.
Our chief safety officer is responsible for determining the Human Health 
product-risk profile, and for overseeing the safety of our Human Health 
products. Our Global Clinical Safety and Pharmacovigilance function, led by 
the chief safety officer, manages a global system for the collection, review 
and reporting of adverse events (AEs), and for the continuous assessment 
of product safety.
The Animal Health vice presidents in R&D (Pharmaceuticals/Biologicals) hold 
joint responsibility for the benefit-risk determination for our Animal Health 
pipeline and marketed veterinary medicinal products, (VMPs) and oversee all 
Animal Health clinical programs.
Clinical safety and risk management
The Clinical Safety and Risk Management organization leads the Risk 
Management Safety Team for all Human Health candidates and products, 
from the beginning of Phase 2b through the end of the product life cycle. 
Clinical Safety and Risk Management is responsible for the development 
of proactive clinical safety risk-management strategies, including the Risk 
Management Plan, which is a regulatory requirement in many countries for 
marketed drugs and vaccines.
Requirements for product and service information 
and labeling
GRI 417-1	
Consistent with applicable FDA regulations, the labels in our product 
packaging contain information about adverse reactions and other potential 
risks that are either serious or otherwise clinically significant. We include 
contact details in our product packaging and on our corporate website for 
patients, human and animal caregivers, farmers and producers, and human 
and animal health professionals to report AEs in the U.S. Outside the U.S., 
AEs are reported in accordance with any additional local country laws 
and practices. 
There are occasions when our Company, in consultation with regulatory 
authorities, may determine that it is important to communicate new or 
updated information promptly to health care providers involved in prescribing 
or dispensing a drug or in caring for patients who receive a drug. In these 
situations, we work with regulatory authorities to communicate this 
information to health care professionals in a timely manner so that they 
can inform patients through appropriate mechanisms.
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Product label reviews
The ongoing oversight and monitoring of our product labels are a major 
focus of our safety efforts. Our label review teams monitor information on 
our products and work with our product Risk Management Safety Teams 
to develop or update product labeling. We regularly communicate relevant 
information to regulatory authorities worldwide.
Health literacy
Health literacy is essential to our overall strategy. We incorporate health 
literacy into all aspects of a product's development and life cycle, from clinical 
testing to labeling and packaging to patient education. In 2020, we founded a 
worldwide community of practice for health literacy, with membership from 
eight different nations and various corporate divisions.
This community of practice was established to assist in identifying and 
organizing health literacy advocates with the goal of training and educating 
colleagues more broadly, both through formalized, concerted efforts and 
through incidental collaboration in the course of daily work. 
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the community of practice launched an internal 
health literacy dictionary with more than 1,000 words, and established an 
internal health literacy portal for the exchange of materials and best practices. 
We are dedicated to increasing people's health literacy in the U.S. and 
around the world. As part of this commitment, our health literacy team 
has developed a novel method to enhance the patient labeling process for 
new compounds. 
The purpose of this is to validate comprehension across all the different 
consumer categories, with a particular emphasis on those who have lower 
levels of health literacy. To date, 10 of our medicines have FDA-authorized 
patient labels that were produced with input from patients whose health 
literacy skills ranged from low to high. Employees who create and assess 
patient labeling for novel compounds have been required to undergo training 
in health literacy methods for patient labels since 2021.
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GRI 417-1 | SASB 270a.2

Customer privacy
Global Privacy Program
Regulators around the world are increasingly adopting regulations similar to, 
or modeled on, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We are 
well positioned in that our global privacy program is based on the GDPR. 
Our global privacy program is also intended to be flexible and adaptable to 
be compliant to new laws and regulations that take effect in the jurisdictions 
where we conduct business. Examples include the California Consumer 
Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA); the 
Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) in Virginia; the Privacy Act (ColPA) in 
Colorado; the Consumer Privacy Act (CPA) in Utah; the Personal Data Privacy 
and Online Monitoring Act (PDPOMA) in Connecticut; and major revisions to 
the Data Protection Acts in China, Canada, and Indonesia. 
In addition, there is increased regulatory scrutiny and interest in companies 
that seek to collect and monetize personal information without full 
transparency and permission from data subjects. We anticipate that 
regulators will continue to increase requirements in these areas and levy 
fines. We believe that we are well positioned for these changes due to the 
deployment of a comprehensive, closed-loop privacy program and our active 
engagement with regulators around the world. 
The Global Privacy Office reports to our chief ethics and compliance officer 
who reports directly to our chief executive officer. Oversight of our global 
privacy program is conducted within the Privacy and Data Protection Board 
(PDPB). This is a cross-functional governance board that connects to our 
Company's Corporate Compliance Committee. The PDPB meets quarterly. 
We are increasingly reliant on third-party partners and service providers to 
assist us in our global operations. Just as we need to pay close attention to 
privacy and data protection, so do the third parties that comprise our supply 
chain. Our Company employs a robust third-party due diligence process to 
ensure that we only do business with reputable third parties who share our 
values and standards.
Our approach is one of accountability and transparency. The heart of this 
program is a leveraged, world-class Global Privacy Program that manifests 
itself throughout the world as a network of over 250 Privacy Stewards. 
Program maturity is measured through a combination of annual privacy 
self-assessments at the entity and organization level, and by comprehensive 
privacy audits conducted by internal audit.
Management approach
GRI 418	
Information about our Company, products and people is one of our most 
valuable assets. We are committed to the ethical use, management, and 
protection of information.
Our commitment applies not only to our Company’s information but 
also to the information entrusted to us by others. Our tools, processes 
and procedures ensure that we appropriately collect, use and safeguard 
information throughout its life cycle to ensure integrity of information and to 
prevent unauthorized access and disclosure. We have developed and continue 
to improve upon a comprehensive, global, state-of-the-art information 
security and cyber resiliency program.
Over the past 20 years, we have developed and continually improved 
a comprehensive global privacy program that promotes organizational 
accountability for privacy, data governance, and data protection across our 
business and with our collaborative partners and suppliers. We were the first 
in the world to obtain regulatory approval in the EU for Binding Corporate 
Rules (BCRs), based in part on our existing Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation 
(APEC) Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPRs) certified program.
This achievement demonstrates that organizations can rely on common 
internal standards and processes to govern international data transfers 
across both the EU and APEC regions to simplify their ability to address the 
growing regulatory challenges in this area. 
Our holistic approach to privacy has its origins in biomedical research ethics 
and the protection of participants in the research studies that we sponsor 
and conduct. We have adapted human subject research ethics standards for 
risk-benefit analysis, transparency, anonymization, coding, and prior review 
to other activities and processes involving data about people.
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We also provide annual mandatory cybersecurity training to communicate 
and reinforce the guidelines in the Information Security Standards Handbook 
and our commitment to a strong cybersecurity culture. We have established 
a systematic approach for ensuring employees can understand and comply 
with Company policies. We developed a robust cybersecurity training 
and awareness program that frequently and consistently delivers both 
compulsory and voluntary learning opportunities designed to encourage 
employees to make security-aware decisions regarding our Company’s 
information security risks. Topics include, but are not limited to, information 
protection, identity, email, browsing and mobile security. Employees are also 
expected to maintain an up-to-date record of their qualifications that details 
relevant cybersecurity work experience, skills, certifications and internal, 
industry or vendor-provided training they receive.
Global Privacy Program
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Number of concerns regarding privacy practices, breaches of privacy 
and losses of personal data that were substantiated1,2,3,4,5
315
29²
250³
4253,4
217⁵
Number of privacy breaches requiring notification by our Company 
to individuals or government authorities
2
2
0
3
4
1 Privacy concerns reported here include all concerns about our privacy practices reported to our Company’s Privacy Office and substantiated or verified. Verified concerns are investigated as part of the Company's Incident 
Management Process which includes a determination of whether regulatory or data subject notification is required. 
2 Change in reporting criteria to exclude non-privacy, quality-related issues from the data.
3 Increased sensitivity of network traffic monitors contributed to increased number in 2020 and 2021.
4 The number of substantiated incidents reported for 2021 has been decreased by one to correct a previous misclassification.
5 Consistent network traffic monitoring and increased privacy and cybersecurity awareness efforts resulted in reduced number of privacy incidents in 2022.
Substantiated complaints regarding breaches of privacy 
or losses of personal data
GRI 418-1	
We have a well-established process by which privacy incidents can be 
reported to the Global Privacy Office and be investigated. The first step of 
this process is to verify the facts reported and to substantiate the concern. 
In 2022, we received 217 substantiated privacy concerns, which marks a 
49 percent reduction compared to the previous year. This reduction was 
mainly due to consistent network traffic monitoring and increased privacy 
and cybersecurity awareness efforts. Four out of 217 incidents were deemed 
to be reportable to data protection authorities and/or data subjects.
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GRI 418

Global Reporting 
Initiative (GRI)
The GRI Standards represent global best practices for reporting publicly on a range of 
economic, environmental and social impacts. The table below summarizes where responses 
to the GRI disclosures can be found throughout this report.
General Disclosures
GRI 2: General Disclosures
2-1
Organizational details
Page 34
2-2
Entities included in the organization’s sustainability reporting
Page 34
2-3
Reporting period, frequency and contact point
Pages 34-35
2-4
Restatements of information
Page 35
2-5
External assurance
Page 35
2-6
Activities, value chain and other business relationships
Pages 35-38
2-7
Employees
Page 39
2-8
Workers who are not employees
Page 39
2-9
Governance structure and composition
Pages 40-41
2-10
Nomination and selection of the highest governance body
Pages 40-41
2-11
Chair of the highest governance body
Pages 40-41
2-12
Role of the highest governance body in overseeing the management of impacts
Pages 40-41
2-13
Delegation of responsibility for managing impacts
Pages 40-41
2-14
Role of the highest governance body in sustainability reporting
Pages 40-41
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2-15
Conflicts of interest
Page 41
2-16
Communication of critical concerns
Page 41
2-17
Collective knowledge of the highest governance body
Page 42
2-18
Evaluation of the performance of the highest governance body
Page 42
2-19
Remuneration policies
Page 42
2-20
Process to determine remuneration
Page 42
2-21
Annual total compensation ratio
Page 42
2-22
Statement on sustainable development strategy
Page 42
2-23
Policy commitments
Pages 42-44
2-24
Embedding policy commitments
Pages 42-44
2-25
Processes to remediate negative impacts
Pages 44-45
2-26
Mechanisms for seeking advice and raising concerns
Pages 44-45
2-27
Compliance with laws and regulations
Pages 45-46
2-28
Membership associations
Pages 46-47
2-29
Approach to stakeholder engagement
Pages 47-49
2-30
Collective bargaining agreements
Page 49
GRI 3: Material Topics
3-1
Process to determine material topics
Pages 49-50
3-2
List of material topics
Pages 49-50
3-3
Management of material topics
Pages 49-50
159
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Economic
GRI 201 Economic Performance (2016)
201-1
Direct economic value generated and distributed
Pages 51-52
201-2
Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due to climate change
Pages 52-53
201-3
Benefit plan coverage
Page 53
GRI 203 Indirect Economic Impacts (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 54-76
GRI 204 Procurement Practices (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 77-80
GRI 205 Anti-corruption (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Page 81
205-2
Communications and training on anti-corruption
Pages 81-82
GRI 206 Anti-Competitive Behavior (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 82-83
206-1
Anti-competitive behavior
Page 83
GRI 207 Tax (2019)
207-1
Approach to tax
Page 83
160
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Environmental
GRI 301 Materials (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 84-87
GRI 302 Energy (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 88-89
302-1
Energy consumption within the organization (Scopes 1 & 2)
Pages 90-91
302-4
Energy reductions
Pages 90-91
GRI 303 Water and Effluents (2018)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 92-93
303-1
Water as a shared resource
Page 94
303-2
Water discharge-related impacts
Pages 94-95
303-3
Water withdrawal
Pages 95-97
303-4
Water discharge
Pages 98-99
GRI 304 Biodiversity (2016)
304-2
Significant impacts of activities, products, and services on biodiversity
Page 100
304-3
Habitats protected or restored
Page 100
161
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GRI 305 Emissions (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 101-102
305-1
Direct GHG emissions (Scope 1)
Pages 103-105
305-2
Indirect GHG emissions (Scope 2)
Pages 103-105
305-3
Other indirect GHG emissions (Scope 3)
Pages 103-105
305-4
GHG emissions intensity
Pages 103-105
305-5
Reduction of GHG emissions
Pages 103-105
305-6
Ozone-depleting substances (ODS)
Pages 105-106
305-7
NOx, SOx and other emissions
Pages 105-106
GRI 306 Waste (2020)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Page 107
306-1
Waste generation and significant waste-related impacts
Pages 107-108
306-2
Management of significant waste-related impacts
Pages 107-108
306-3
Waste generated
Pages 109-112
306-4
Waste diverted from disposal
Pages 109-112
306-5
Waste directed to disposal
Pages 109-112
GRI 308 Supplier Environmental Assessment (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 112-113
162
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Social
GRI 401 Employment (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Page 114
401-1
New employee hires and turnover
Pages 115-117
401-2
Benefits provided to full-time employees
Page 118
401-3
Parental leave
Page 118
GRI 403 Occupational Health & Safety (2018)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Page 119
403-1
Occupational health and safety management system
Page 119
403-2
Hazard identification, risk assessment, and incident investigation
Pages 119-123
403-3
Occupational health services
Pages 123-125
403-5
Worker training on occupational health and safety
Page 125
403-6
Promotion of worker health
Pages 125-126
403-9
Work-related injuries
Pages 126-129
403-10
Work-related ill health
Pages 126-129
GRI 404 Training & Education (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Page 130
404-1
Average hours of employee training 
Page 130
163
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404-2
Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs
Pages 131-133
404-3
Percentage of employees receiving regular performance reviews
Page 133
GRI 405 Diversity & Equal Opportunity (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 134-140
405-1
Diversity of governance bodies and employees
Pages 141-142
GRI 412 Human Rights Assessment (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 143-144
412-1
Operations that have been subject to human rights reviews
Page 144
412-2
Employee training on human rights policies and procedures
Page 144
412-3
Investment agreements and contracts that include human rights clauses or underwent 
screening
Page 144
GRI 414 Supplier Social Assessment (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 145-146
414-1
New suppliers screened using social criteria
Page 147
GRI 415 Public Policy (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Page 147
415-1
Political contributions
Page 147
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GRI 416 Customer Health & Safety (2016) 
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 148-149
416-2
Incidents of non-compliance concerning the health and safety impacts of products 
and services
Pages 150-153
GRI 417 Marketing & Labeling (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Page 154
417-1
Requirements for product and service information and labeling
Pages 154-155
GRI 418 Customer Privacy (2016)
Management Approach
Explanation of the material topic, its boundary, how the topic is managed, and 
mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's strategy
Pages 156-157
418-1
Substantiated complaints regarding breaches of customer privacy and losses of 
customer data
Page 157
165
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Sustainability Accounting 
Standards Board (SASB)
SASB is an independent standards-setting organization dedicated to 
improving the effectiveness and comparability of corporate disclosure on 
ESG factors. The table below summarizes how our existing reporting aligns 
with the recommended metrics for the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals 
Standard within the Health Care sector, and where this information can be 
found in this report.
Safety of clinical trial participants
210a.1
Discussion, by world region, of management process for ensuring quality and 
patient safety during clinical trials
Pages 57, 148-153 
210a.2
Number of FDA Sponsor Inspections related to clinical trial management 
and pharmacovigilance that resulted in: Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI) and 
Official Action Indicated (OAI)
None.
210a.3
Total amount of monetary losses as a result of legal proceedings associated with 
clinical trials in developing countries
Not reported.
Access to medicines
240a.1
Description of actions and initiatives to promote access to health care products for 
priority diseases and in priority countries as defined by the Access to Medicine Index
Pages 54-76
240a.2
List of products on the WHO List of Prequalified Medicinal Products as part of its 
Prequalification of Medicines Programme (PQP)
Pages 54-76
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Affordability and pricing
240b.1
Number of settlements of Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) litigation that 
involved payments and/or provisions to delay bringing an authorized generic product to 
market for a defined time period
Information regarding 
Abbreviated New Drug 
Application (ANDA) litigation can 
be found in our 2022 Form 10-K, 
on pages 26 and 108.
240b.2
Percentage change in: average list price and average net price across U.S. product 
portfolio compared to previous year
Pages 54-76
240b.3
Percentage change in: list price and net price of product with largest increase compared 
to previous year
Pages 54-76
Drug safety
250a.1
List of products listed in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) MedWatch Safety 
Alerts for Human Medical Products database
Pages 150-153
FAERS MedWatch
250a.2
Number of fatalities associated with products as reported in the FDA Adverse Event 
Reporting System
Pages 150-153
FAERS MedWatch
250a.3
Number of recalls issued, and total units recalled
Pages 150-153
FAERS MedWatch
250a.4
Total amount of product accepted for takeback, reuse, or disposal
Pages 109-112
250a.5
Number of FDA enforcement actions taken in response to violations of current
Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), by type
Please visit the FDA website 
for more information.
167
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Counterfeit drugs
260a.1
Description of methods and technologies used to maintain traceability of products 
throughout the supply chain and prevent counterfeiting
Pages 150-153
260a.2
Discussion of process for alerting customers and business partners of potential or 
known risks associated with counterfeit products
Pages 150-153
260a.3
Number of actions that led to raids, seizure, arrests, and/or filing of criminal charges 
related to counterfeit products
Pages 150-152 
Ethical marketing
270a.1
Total amount of monetary losses as a result of legal proceedings associated with 
false marketing claims
Not reported.
270a.2
Description of code of ethics governing promotion of off-label use of products
Pages 154-155
Employee recruitment, development and retention
330a.1
Discussion of talent recruitment and retention efforts for scientists and research 
and development personnel
Page 118
330a.2
Voluntary and involuntary turnover rate for: executives/senior managers, mid-level 
managers, professionals, and all others
The segmentation of turnover 
data we provide in this report more 
clearly reflects how our business 
operates than segmentation by 
employee category.
168
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Supply chain management
430a.1
Percentage of entity's facilities and Tier I suppliers' facilities participating in the Rx-360 
International Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Consortium audit program or equivalent 
third-party audit programs for integrity of supply chain and ingredients
Our Human Health and Animal 
Health divisions both use the Rx-
360 audit program as a resource 
for purchasing audit reports in 
the event that suppliers refuse 
audits, but we do not currently 
publish this percentage.
Business ethics
510a.1
Total amount of monetary losses as a result of legal proceedings associated with 
corruption and bribery
Not reported.
510a.2
Description of code of ethics governing interactions with health care professionals
Pages 42-44
Code of Conduct & Compliance
Activity metrics
000.A 
Number of patients treated 
Pages 14, 54-76
000.B
Number of drugs in portfolio, and in research and development (Phases 1-3)
Pipeline
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UN Global 
Compact (UNGC)
The UNGC is a strategic initiative that helps companies align their business activities and 
strategies with ten universally recognized principles in the areas of human rights, labor 
standards, environmental protection and the fight against corruption. The table below 
summarizes how our existing reporting aligns with these disclosures and where the 
information can be found in this report. Our Communication on Progress will be available 
on the UN Global Compact website. 
Human rights
1
Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed 
human rights
Pages 143-144
2
Businesses should make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses
Pages 112-113, 143-147
Labor
3
Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the 
rights to collective bargaining
Pages 143-144
4
Businesses should support the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor
Pages 143-144
5
Businesses should support the effective abolition of child labor
Pages 143-144
6
Businesses should support the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment 
and occupation
Pages 134-142, 143-147
Environment
7
Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges
Pages 84-87, 92-99, 107-112
8
Businesses should undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility
Pages 84-87
9
Businesses should encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally 
friendly technologies
Pages 84-87, 92-99
Anti-corruption
10
Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery
Pages 44-45, 81-83, 145-147
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UN Sustainable 
Development Goals (SDGs)
The SDGs are a set of 17 global goals whose aim is to end 
poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate 
change by 2030. The table below summarizes how our 
reporting aligns with the SDGs and where this information can 
be found in this report. More information on our priorities can 
also be found on page 9.
Goal
Description
Response
SDG 1:	
No Poverty
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Pages 54-76, 83
SDG 2:	
Zero Hunger
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote 
sustainable agriculture
MSD Animal Health
SDG 3:	
Good Health & Well-being
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Pages 54-76, 119-129
SDG 4:	
Quality Education
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning 
opportunities for all
Pages 130-133
SDG 5:	
Gender Equality
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Pages 114-118, 130-142, 145-147
SDG 6:	
Clean Water & Sanitation
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Pages 92-99, 109-112
SDG 7:	
Affordable & Clean Energy
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Pages 88-91
SDG 8:	
Decent Work & 
Economic Growth
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and 
productive employment, and decent work for all
Pages 34-39, 47-49, 51-53, 
88-91, 114-129, 130-142, 
145-147
SDG 9:	
Industry, Innovation & 
Infrastructure
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable 
industrialization and foster innovation
Pages 51-76
SDG 10:	 Reduced Inequalities
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Pages 34-39, 88-91, 101-105
SDG 11:	 Cities & Communities
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Not applicable
SDG 12:	 Responsible Consumption & 
Production
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Pages 84-112, 154-155
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SDG 13:	 Climate Action
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Pages 52-53, 88-91, 101-107
SDG 14:	 Life Below Water
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for 
sustainable development
Pages 43, 92-100
SDG 15:	 Life on Land
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, 
sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land 
degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Pages 92-112
SDG 16:	 Peace, Justice & 
Strong Institutions
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, 
provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive 
institutions at all levels
Pages 40-41, 44-45, 82-83, 
92-100, 145-147, 148-149
SDG 17:	 Partnerships for the Goals
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership 
for sustainable development
Pages 42-43, 47-49, 83
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Culture of Health for 
Business (COH4B)
The Culture of Health for Business (COH4B) is a framework for companies to disclose their 
impact on health of employees, families and communities, as well as brand and financial 
performance, that lead to both positive and negative business outcomes. The table below 
summarizes how our reporting aligns with the recommended metrics for the Biotechnology 
& Pharmaceuticals Standard within the Health Care sector and where this information can 
be found in this report.
Strategic
Health culture
Promoting an organizational culture of health
Pages 118-129, COVID-19
Responsible corporate 
political activity
Activity that shapes public policy or public opinion
Pages 46-47, 147, 
Transparency Disclosures
Responsible marketing 
practices
Commitments to responsible marketing
Pages 154-155
Policies & Benefits
Health promotion 
and wellness
Providing health promotion and wellness programs
Pages 114-129
Paid family and medical leave
Allowing employees to earn pay while away attending to illness, a family member 
or newborn
Pages 114-129
Health insurance
Providing employer-based health insurance
Pages 114-129
Equality, diversity 
and impartiality
Managing inequality, discrimination and diversity, including disability
Pages 114-118, 134-144
Financial literacy
Providing financial literacy resources
Pages 114-118
Workforce & Operations
Work time
Managing working hours, schedules and schedule control
Pages 114-118
Job security
Managing job insecurity
Pages 114-118
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Pay practices
Managing wage policies, minimum wages, wage satisfaction
Pages 114-118, 
Compensation and benefits
Occupational health 
and safety
Mandatory and voluntary occupational health and safety
Pages 119-129
Physical environment
Managing air quality, lighting, green buildings, health promotion attempts through 
the built environment
Pages 84-113
Community
Community environmental 
impacts
Managing the environmental impacts of company operations on communities
Pages 84-113, 
CDP Water Security, 
CDP Climate Change
Social capital and cohesion
Encouraging links, shared values and understanding
Pages 23-26, 114-118
Community involvement
Investments in programs to benefit communities, including disaster response 
and recovery
Pages 54-76, 114-118, 
Philanthropy, Impact Investing,
Medical Outreach Program
174
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Overview
GRI/SASB:
General disclosures
Economic
Environmental
Social
Indices

Stakeholder 
Capitalism Metrics
At the 2020 Annual Meeting in Davos, 120 of the world’s largest companies supported 
efforts to develop a core set of common metrics and disclosures for their investors and 
other stakeholders. Below is our alignment against the Core metrics from this framework 
developed by the World Economic Forum, as well as select disclosures from the Expanded 
metrics. MSD currently is not a signatory to the Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics.
Principles of Governance
Governing Purpose
Setting purpose (Core)
Overview (pages 6-11)
Purpose-led management (Expanded)
Overview (pages 6-11)
Quality of Governing Body
Governance body composition (Core)
Pages 40-42
Progress against strategic milestones (Expanded)
Access to health care and medicine (pages 54-76) 
Equity and affordability (pages 64-76) 
Product safety and quality (pages 54-76, 77-82, 148-155) 
Public health risks (pages 54-76)
Employee diversity and inclusion (pages 134-142)
Employee health and safety (pages 119-129) 
Talent management (pages 39, 47-49, 114-142)
Climate change risks and management (pages 52-53, 88-91, 101-106)
Ethical corporate behavior (pages 44-45, 81-82, 154-155, 
Code of Conduct & Compliance) 
Privacy and data security (pages 156-157)
Remuneration (Expanded)
Page 42
175
Overview
GRI/SASB:
General disclosures
Economic
Environmental
Social
MSD Impact Report 2022/2023
Indices

Stakeholder Engagement
Material issues impacting stakeholders (Core)
Pages 49-50
Ethical Behavior
Anti-corruption (Core)
Pages 81-82
Protected ethics advice and reporting mechanisms (Core)
Pages 44-45
Alignment of strategy and policies to lobbying (Expanded)
Pages 147
Risk and Opportunity Oversight
Integrating risk and opportunity into business process (Core)
Pages 40-41, 49-50
Planet
Climate Change
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Core)
Pages 103-105
Paris-aligned GHG emissions targets (Expanded)
Pages 101-106
TCFD implementation (Core)
Pages 52-53
Nature Loss
Land use and ecological sensitivity (Core)
Page 100
Freshwater Availability
Water consumption and withdrawal in water‑stressed areas (Core)
Pages 92-99
Impact of freshwater consumption and withdrawal (Expanded)
CDP Water Security
Air Pollution
Air pollution (Expanded)
Pages 105-106
176
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Overview
GRI/SASB:
General disclosures
Economic
Environmental
Social
Indices

People
Dignity and Equality
Diversity and inclusion (Core)
Pages 141-142
Pay equality (Core)
Page 136
Wage level (Core)
Not reported
Risk for incidents of child, forced or compulsory labor (Core)
Pages 143-144
Human rights review, grievance impact and modern slavery (Expanded)
Pages 143-144
Freedom of association and collective bargaining at risk (Expanded)
Pages 49-50, 145-147
Health and Well-being
Health and safety (Core)
Pages 125-129
Employee well-being (Expanded)
Pages 119-129
Skills for the Future
Training provided (Core)
Pages 130-133
Prosperity
Employment and Wealth Generation
Absolute number and rate of employment (Core)
Pages 114-118
Infrastructure investments and services supported (Expanded)
Pages 54-76
Economic contribution (Core)
Pages 51-53
2022 Form 10-K
Financial investment contribution (Core)
2022 Form 10-K
Significant indirect economic impacts (Expanded)
Pages 54-76
177
Overview
GRI/SASB:
General disclosures
Economic
Environmental
Social
MSD Impact Report 2022/2023
Indices

Innovation for Better Products and Services
Total R&D expenses (Core)
2022 Form 10-K (page 54)
Community and Social Vitality
Total tax paid (Core)
Page 83
Additional tax remitted (Expanded)
Page 83
178
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Overview
GRI/SASB:
General disclosures
Economic
Environmental
Social
Indices

Copyright © 2023 Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, and its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Forward-looking statement
This publication of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA (the “Company”) includes “forward-
looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private 
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current 
beliefs and expectations of the Company’s management and are subject to significant risks 
and uncertainties. There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline candidates that 
the candidates will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be 
commercially successful. 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 the global outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19); 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; the Company’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 the Company’s 
patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including 
patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.
The Company 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 the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 
the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the 
SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov). 
No duty to update 
The information contained in this publication was current as of the date presented. The Company 
assumes no duty to update the information to reflect subsequent developments. Consequently, 
the Company will not update the information contained in this publication and investors should 
not rely upon the information as current or accurate after the presentation date.
Merck & Co., Inc.
126 East Lincoln Avenue
P.O. Box 2000
Rahway, NJ 07065 USA
MSD.com
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., U.S.A., is known 
as MSD outside the United States and Canada.