Why Merck is in infectious disease for the long haul

Merck is bucking the trend of its biopharma peers by continuing to invest in and build its infectious disease pipeline. With new regulatory pathways in play and novel funding mechanisms for antibiotics starting to take off, the pharma believes its decision to stay the course will be rewarded.

Merck has a long history in infectious diseases and antimicrobials, including developing one of the first methods of mass producing penicillin in 1942. ...