Sustainable business success depends on making quality products that people value through sound financial stewardship and responsible governance to ensure we meet customers' needs ethically and transparently.

Globalization and the expanding reach of firms during the past decades have escalated expectations for multinational enterprises to create more social value, moving beyond compliance with regulations, philanthropy and the normal economic activities of firms. Corporate responsibility has emerged as an important element of the private sector's response to these expectations and demands. While corporate responsibility can be seen as a way to improve reputation, or simply as a response to a moral imperative to do good, at Merck we believe that corporate responsibility is inherent in our business and can provide us with new opportunities to create shared value.

Our principal economic contribution to society is made through the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of our products, which directly improve and maintain the health of individuals and communities around the world, helping them to lead more productive lives.

In 2010, following the completion of the merger with Schering-Plough, we completed the prioritization of our combined research and development pipelines. With more than 20 products in late-stage development and an investment of more than $8 billion in overall research and development, we are poised to help patients and address major global health issues including diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and chronic hepatitis C.

Merck has a robust pipeline, with a wide range of product candidates across each phase of development. View our pipeline. As of the end of 2010, we had more than 10 ongoing product launches in key markets around the world. We received regulatory approvals in the European Union for four new medicines: DULERA^® (mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate dihydrate), our combination asthma medicine in the United States, and BRINAVESS^® (Vernakalant), ELONVA^® (corifollitropin Alfa Injection) and SYCREST^® (asenapine). Regulatory agencies also approved important new uses for Merck products such as GARDASIL^® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant], which is now indicated for the prevention of anal cancer caused by certain HPV types in males and females aged 9 to 26. In addition, we return value to shareholders in the form of dividends and an active stock repurchase program. For additional information about our business and economic impact, please see our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.