Media Contacts: Ani Armenian Merck 514-428

Media Contacts:
Ani Armenian
Merck
514-428-3395
[email protected]
Dominique Quirion
NATIONAL Public Relations
514-843-2302
[email protected]
MERCK CANADA ANNOUNCES $2-MILLION GRANT TO SUPPORT
PERSONALIZED TREATMENT IN CANCER
MONTREAL, Quebec – April 3, 2014 – At the 6th Annual National Conference to Defeat
Cancer, organized by Coalition Priorité Cancer, Merck Canada reinforced the company’s
continued commitment to the Quebec life sciences research innovation sector by announcing
a $2-million grant to the Quebec - Consortium de recherche en oncologie clinique (Q-CROC).
The grant received by Q-CROC will go towards biomarker-driven clinical research for
personalized medicine in cancer, notably in the framework of a public-private partnership put
forward by Q-CROC and the newly-formed Centre of Excellence PreThera Research.
“Oncology is a priority area for Merck and we are dedicated to bringing forward innovations
that can make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients with cancer”, said
Dr. Thomas R. Cannell, President and Managing Director, Merck Canada Inc. “This $2-million
grant to Q-CROC will support patient-centered research in Québec and ultimately may help
bring about advances in oncology care.”
“This important contribution further solidifies our position as a provincial interface for clinical
research to help bridge the gap between industry, government, healthcare establishments
and the research community in Quebec. The grant from Merck Canada will allow us to get
closer to our ultimate goal of providing cancer patients in Quebec with access to the most
advanced and personalized medicine,” said Dr. Gerald Batist, co-founder of Q-CROC and
Director of the Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital.
Merck’s investment in Quebec
This announcement marks the latest contribution by Merck towards its commitment to provide
$100 million over five years in biopharmaceutical R&D in Quebec. Today’s announcement
brings Merck’s total contributions to approximately $86 million.
Note: All amounts expressed in this press release are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise
noted.
About Merck
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is
known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our medicines, vaccines,
biologic therapies, and consumer and animal products, we work with customers and operate
in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our
commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and
partnerships. For more information about our operations in Canada, visit www.merck.ca.
About the Quebec – Clinical Research Organization in Cancer (Q-CROC)
The Q-CROC is a provincial interface for clinical research, bridging the gap between industry,
government, healthcare establishments and the research community. To address the
increasingly competitive landscape for clinical research, the Q-CROC facilitates an
environment for sharing knowledge, needs and strengths, thereby enticing the conduct of
studies in the province and providing patients with access to new innovative treatments.
Complementary to this activity, the Q-CROC provides a niche of expertise in the discovery
and validation of biomarkers to predict the response or resistance to treatment. By these
engagements, the Q-CROC aims to position the province of Québec at the national and
international forefront of personalized medicine in cancer, so that patients can access the
most cutting-edge treatments. For more information about Q-CROC, please visit
www.qcroc.ca.
About PreThera Research
The Business-Led Network of Centres of Excellence in Precision Therapeutics (PreThera
Research) will help develop cancer treatments that are increasingly personalized for patients
by combining the latest discoveries in cancer biology with new approaches to clinical trials.
The network’s research program will take advantage of the current understanding that almost
all tumours can be divided into smaller groups with a unique biomarker – a molecular
signature that can be targeted by a specific drug. Using a growing database that identifies
these biomarkers and the patients that have them, PreThera Research will make it possible
to accelerate the identification of innovative new drugs and bring them to the medical field.
This will be accomplished by identifying patients that are most likely to respond to a precise
treatment for their greater benefit and that of the Life Science Industry and the health care
system. www.prethera.ca
The news release is available at www.cnw.ca.
-30Forward Looking Statement
This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe
harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Merck’s management and
are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. There can be no guarantees with respect to
pipeline products that the products 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 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; Merck’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
Merck’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation,
including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.
Merck undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause
results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be
found in Merck’s 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site
(www.sec.gov).

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