Search everything Menu About us > Responsibility > Impact investing Impact investing Strengthening health systems and building capacity are important to improve access to quality health care. Advancing sustainable global health systems Impact investing is one of our core approaches to advancing sustainable global health systems. Through impact investing, we are able to deploy financial resources in ways that may generate not only improved access to health care for underserved populations, but also financial returns and commercial opportunities—all while growing a sustainable global health ecosystem and attracting additional capital and partners. In our impact investing portfolio we seek to address five complementary facets of a sustainable and resilient global health ecosystem: physical infrastructure, financial inclusion, digital and diagnostic solutions, pharmaceutical and vaccine R&D, and emergency response. Our impact investment $45M investments into funds and companies working to address underlying barriers to health 7M people reached through a variety of health interventions (2020) Our impact investing portfolio Our impact investing portfolio is summarized below, and we continue to evaluate impact investing opportunities that are aligned with our corporate responsibility priorities and business objectives. In 2020, more than seven million people were reached by health interventions via our impact investments; as our investments continue to mature, we will continue to measure the social impact of our portfolio. 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. Governance Impact investing is led by our Office of Social Business Innovation with guidance from the 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. Our current portfolio represents commitments totaling $45 million; our goal is to reach a portfolio of $50M in investments by 2022. We are also members of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), through which we can contribute to and benefit from the growing body of expertise in the impact investing. Related links Responsibility Supporting society, people and communities around the world is fundamental to our long-term success Philanthropy Philanthropy is an essential part of our approach to corporate responsibility Investors Find our latest financials, events & presentations, news, stock information, and contacts Connect with us on social For patients and health care professionals MerckHelps Merck Patient Assistance Program provides certain Merck medicines and adult vaccines for free to qualified patients Merck Access Program Information about insurance coverage and financial assistance options for eligible patients Clinical trials Learn about our clinical trials and find available studies Merck Manuals Medical information source covering thousands of topics in all fields of medicine Corporate responsibility Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Report Reporting on our commitment to operating responsibly to benefit society Merck for Mothers An initiative to create a world where no woman has to die giving life About Merck Merck Animal Health The global animal health business unit of Merck Forward-looking statement Cookie policy Cookie Preferences Privacy Transparency disclosure Terms of use Sitemap Copyright © 2009-2021 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. This Site Uses Cookies and Your Privacy Choice Is Important to Us We suggest you choose Customize My Settings to make your individualized choices. Accept All Cookies means that you are choosing to accept third-party Cookies and that you understand this choice. See our Privacy Policy Customize My Settings Accept All Cookies