ABOUT US RESEARCH PRODUCTS CAREERS HOME INVESTORS NEWSROOM LICENSING CONTACT US QUICK LINKS VACCINES: OUR HISTORY, OUR LEGACY About Us Our Values Corporate Responsibility Health Tips & Resources Leadership How We Operate Views and Positions Our History Featured Stories "An epidemic of diphtheria is almost inevitable here. Stop. I am in urgent need of one million units of diphtheria antitoxin. Stop. Mail is only form of transportation. Stop." This was the desperate radio telegram in January 1925 from Dr. Curtis Welch in Nome, Alaska, to all the major Alaska towns, to territorial Governor Scott Bone in Juneau, and to the U.S. Public Health Service in Washington, D.C. Diphtheria was spreading through the icebound community. Children had already died, and the local supply of diphtheria antitoxin had expired the previous summer. Weather prevented a delivery by air, so relay teams of sled dogs and their mushers raced against the clock to deliver 300,000 units of antitoxin, which was produced by Merck legacy company H.K. Mulford. They completed the 674-mile journey over what later became known as the Iditarod Trail in a record-breaking five days and seven hours despite whiteout conditions and temperatures of fifty degrees below zero. This "Great Race of Mercy" is an iconic story of human compassion. More than a century of vaccines Merck and its legacy companies have been working to discover and develop vaccines for more than a century. In 1895, the H.K. Mulford Company began marketing the first commercially available diphtheria antitoxin produced in the U.S., the very medication that helped avert the diphtheria epidemic in Nome. Today, Merck has a significant presence in vaccine discovery, development and distribution. Vaccines are not just for children The CDC considers immunizations one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century. In the U.S., vaccines are now available for a number of infectious diseases that once routinely affected individuals in all age groups. Many people think vaccines are for children, but adults also are susceptible to many infectious diseases. Each year in the U.S., thousands of adults suffer from complications of diseases for which vaccines are available. In developing areas of the world, the toll is most often higher. Protecting public health is a worldwide challenge Dr. Julie Gerberding, president, Merck Vaccines Outside the U.S., Merck is working with national health ministries and non-government agencies to help write new chapters in the public health success story through partnerships, demonstration projects, donation programs, and technology transfer agreements. "Vaccines are a powerful force of health and health development, and their globalization is not just a business necessity but a public health obligation," says Dr. Julie Gerberding, president, Merck Vaccines, and former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Merck is on a mission to ensure that more people can access our vaccines, regardless of where they live or their financial circumstances." PRINT SHARE SIZE THE VACCINE PIONEERS Dr. Maurice Hilleman b. 1919 – d. 2005 Merck scientist who helped develop more than 40 vaccines Learn more about the vaccine pioneers. Copyright © 2009-2014 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Terms of Use Site Map