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  "text": "Passage 1:\nMerck & Co.\nMerck & Co., Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and is named for Merck Group, founded in Germany in 1668, of whom it was once the American arm. The company does business as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, generally ranking in the global top five by revenue.Merck & Co. was originally established as the American affiliate of Merck Group in 1891. Merck develops and produces medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. It has multiple blockbuster drugs or products each with 2020 revenues including cancer immunotherapy, anti-diabetic medication and vaccines against HPV and chickenpox.\nThe company is ranked 71st on the 2022 Fortune 500 and 87th on the 2022 Forbes Global 2000, both based on 2021 revenues.\n\nProducts\nThe company develops medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. In 2020, the company had 6 blockbuster drugs or products, each with over $1 billion in revenue: Keytruda (pembrolizumab), a humanized antibody used in cancer immunotherapy that had $14.3 billion in 2020 revenue; Januvia (sitagliptin), an anti-diabetic medication used to treat type 2 diabetes that had $5.3 billion in 2020 revenue; Gardasil, an HPV vaccine that had $3.9 billion in 2020 revenue; Varivax, a varicella vaccine used to protect against chickenpox that had $1.9 billion in 2020 revenues; Bridion (Sugammadex), a neuromuscular-blocking drug that had $1.2 billion in 2020 revenue; and Pneumovax 23, a pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine that had $1.1 billion in 2020 revenue. Other major products by the company include Isentress (raltegravir), an antiretroviral medication used to treat HIV/AIDS that had $857 million in 2020 revenue; Simponi (golimumab), a human monoclonal antibody used as an immunosuppressive drug that had $838 million in 2020 revenue; RotaTeq, a rotavirus vaccine that had $797 million in 2020 revenue; and Lynparza (olaparib), a medication for the maintenance treatment of BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer in adults that generated $725 million in 2020 revenue for the company.Details of Merck's major products are as follows:\n\nJanuvia (sitagliptin) is a dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In 2013, Januvia was the second largest selling diabetes drug worldwide. Januvia is commonly paired with the generic anti-diabetes drug metformin. It has been popular due in part because unlike many other diabetes drugs, it causes little or no weight gain and is not associated with hypoglycemic episodes. Merck also sells a single pill combination drug containing both Januvia and metformin under the trade name Janumet. There has been some concern that treatment with Januvia and other DPP-IV inhibitors may be associated with a modestly increased risk of pancreatitis.\nZetia (ezetimibe) is a drug for hypercholesterolemia that acts by inhibiting the absorption of dietary cholesterol. Zetia has been controversial, as it was initially approved based on its impact on serum cholesterol levels without proof that it actually impacted the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Results of the IMPROVE-IT study, however, introduced at the 2014 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, showed a statistically significant, albeit modest, benefit in adding Zetia to simvastatin for high-risk, post-acute-coronary-syndrome patients.\nRemicade (infliximab) is a monoclonal antibody directed toward the cytokine TNF-alpha and used for the treatment of a wide range of autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ankylosing spondylitis, plaque psoriasis, and others. Remicade and other TNF-alpha inhibitors exhibit additive therapeutic effects with methotrexate and improve quality of life. Adverse effects include increased risk of infection and certain cancers. Merck had rights to the drug in certain areas, while Janssen Biotech had rights in other areas; in 2017, Merck announced a biosimilar to Remicade, Renflexis.\nGardasil (recombinant human papilloma virus vaccine) is a vaccine against multiple serotypes of human papilloma virus (HPV), which is responsible for most cases of cervical cancer worldwide.\nIsentress (raltegravir) is a human immunodeficiency virus integrase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV infection. It is the first anti-HIV compound having this mechanism of action. It is part of one of several first line treatment regimens recommended by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.\nKeytruda (pembrolizumab) is an immune modulator for the treatment of cancer. On September 4, 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pembrolizumab (MK-3475) as a breakthrough therapy for melanoma treatment. In clinical trials, pembrolzumab provided partial tumor regression in about one quarter of patients, many of whom have not seen further progression of their disease in over 6 months of follow-up.\nInvanz (Ertapenem) is an injectable antibiotic, rights to which Merck has owned since 1999. Merck was in a legal dispute with the Taiwanese company Savior Lifetec over their attempt to secure rights to sell a generic drug version in the United States. Savior has since obtained approval to market generic ertapenem.\nMexsana is an antiseptic medicated powder.\nMectizan (ivermectin) is an anti-parasitic medicine traditionally used to treat river blindness. It is the focus of Merck's Mectizan Donation Program, wherein Merck has donated doses of the drug to treat millions of people in countries such as Yemen and African nations.\nMolnupiravir is an antiviral pill to treat COVID-19, developed in partnership with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.Merck & Co. publishes The Merck Manuals, a series of medical reference books for physicians, nurses, technicians, and veterinarians. These include the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, the world's best-selling medical reference. The Merck Index, a compendium of chemical compounds, was published by Merck & Co. until it was acquired by the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2012.\n\nHistory\nRoots and early history\nMerck & Co. traces its origins to its former German parent company Merck Group, which was established by the Merck family in 1668 when Friedrich Jacob Merck purchased a drug store in Darmstadt. In 1827, Merck Group evolved from a pharmacy to a drug manufacturer company with the commercial manufacture of morphine. Merck perfected the chemical process of deriving morphine from opium and later introduced cocaine, used to treat sinus problems and to add to beverages to boost energy levels.In 1887 a German-born, long-time Merck employee, Theodore Weicker, went to the United States to represent Merck Group. In 1891, with $200,000 received from E. Merck, Weicker started Merck & Co., with headquarters in lower Manhattan. That year George Merck, the 23-year-old son of the then head of E. Merck (and grandson of the founder) joined Weicker in New York. Merck & Co. operated from 1891 to 1917 as the US subsidiary of the Merck Group.\n\nNationalization\nAfter the U.S. entered World War I, due to its German connections, Merck & Co. was the subject of expropriation under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. In 1919, George W. Merck, in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, bought the company back at a U.S. government auction for $3.5 million, but Merck & Co. remained a separate company from its former German parent. Merck & Co. holds the trademark rights to the \"Merck\" name in the United States and Canada, while its former parent company retains the rights in the rest of the world; the right to use the Merck name was the subject of litigation between the two companies in 2016.In 1929, H. K. Mulford Company merged with Sharp and Dohme, Inc. and brought vaccine technology, including immunization of cavalry horses in World War I and delivery of a diphtheria antitoxin to Merck & Co.\nIn 1943, Streptomycin was discovered during a Merck-funded research program in Selman Waksman's laboratory at Rutgers University. It became the first effective treatment for Tuberculosis. At the time of its discovery, sanatoriums for the isolation of tuberculosis-infected people were a ubiquitous feature of cities in developed countries, with 50% dying within 5 years of admission. Although Merck's agreement with Rutgers gave it exclusive rights to streptomycin, at Waksman's request the company renegotiated the agreement, returning the rights to the university in exchange for a royalty. The university then set up non-exclusive licenses with seven companies to ensure a reliable supply of the antibiotic.\n\n1950–2000\nIn the 1950s, thiazide diuretics were developed by Merck scientists Karl H. Beyer, James M. Sprague, John E. Baer, and Frederick C. Novello and led to the marketing of the first drug of this class, chlorothiazide, under the trade name Duiril in 1958. The research leading to the discovery of chlorothiazide, leading to \"the saving of untold thousands of lives and the alleviation of the suffering of millions of victims of hypertension\" was recognized by a special Public Health Award from the Lasker Foundation in 1975.In 1953, Merck & Co. merged with Philadelphia-based Sharp & Dohme, Inc., becoming the largest U.S. drugmaker. Sharp and Dohme had acquired H. K. Mulford Company in 1929, adding smallpox vaccines to its portfolio. The combined company kept the trade name Merck in the United States and Canada, and as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) outside North America.In 1965, Merck & Co. acquired Charles Frosst Ltd. of Montreal (founded 1899), creating Merck-Frosst Canada, Inc., as its Canadian subsidiary and pharmaceutical research facility. Merck & Co. closed this facility in July 2010 but remerged in 2011 as Merck Canada.Maurice Hilleman, a scientist at Merck, developed the first mumps vaccine in 1967, the first rubella vaccine in 1969, and the first trivalent measles, mumps, rubella (MMR vaccine) in 1971. The incidence of rubella-associated birth defects fell from up to 10,000 per year in the U.S. to zero in the aftermath of the rubella vaccine's development. Hilleman also developed the first Hepatitis B vaccine and the first varicella vaccine, for chickenpox.The company was incorporated in New Jersey in 1970. John J. Horan became CEO and Chairman in 1976, serving until 1985. Under his leadership, the company's investment in R&D grew threefold, and Merck became the largest pharmaceutical company in the world.In 1979, Merck scientists developed lovastatin (Mevacor), the first drug of the statin class.Merck scientist William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura developed ivermectin for veterinary use in 1981, and later put it to human use against Onchocerciasis in 1987–88 with the name Mectizan; today the compound is used against river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, scabies and other parasitic infections.In 1982, the company formed a joint venture, KBI Inc., with AstraZeneca. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the company also established joint ventures with DuPont to access research and development expertise, and with Johnson & Johnson to sell over-the-counter consumer medications.In 1985, Merck received approval for imipenem, the first member of the carbapenem class of antibiotics. Antibiotics of the carbapenem class play an important role in treatment guidelines for certain hospital-acquired and multi-drug resistant infections. P. Roy Vagelos became CEO and Chairman that year, succeeding Horan.In 1991, Merck's Kelco subsidiary was responsible for volatile organic compound (VOC) emission pollution in the San Diego area. In 1996 Merck paid $1.8 million for polluting the air. New machines were installed to reduce smog emissions by 680,000 lb (310,000 kg) a year.In November 1993, Merck & Co. acquired Medco Containment Services for $6 billion. Merck & Co. spun Medco off ten years later.\n\n2001–2019\nIn May 2002, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation purchased stock in Merck.From 2002 through 2005, the Australian affiliate of Merck paid publishing house Elsevier an undisclosed amount to produce eight issues of a medical journal, the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine. Although it gave the appearance of being an independent peer-reviewed journal, without any indication that Merck had paid for it, the journal actually reprinted articles that originally appeared in other publications and that were favorable to Merck. The misleading publication came to light in 2009 during a personal injury lawsuit filed over Vioxx; 9 of 29 articles in the journal's second issue referred positively to Vioxx. The CEO of Elsevier's Health Sciences Division, Michael Hansen, admitted that the practice was \"unacceptable\".In 2005, CEO Raymond Gilmartin retired following Merck's voluntary worldwide withdrawal of Vioxx. Former president of manufacturing Richard Clark was named CEO and company president.In November 2009, Merck & Co. completed a merger with Schering-Plough in a US$41 billion deal. Although Merck & Co. was in reality acquiring Schering-Plough, the purchase was declared a \"reverse merger\", in which \"Old\" Merck & Co. was renamed Merck Sharp & Dohme, and Schering-Plough renamed as \"Merck & Co., Inc. The maneuver was an attempt avoid a \"change-of-control\" in order to preserve Schering-Plough's rights to market Remicade. A settlement with Johnson & Johnson was reached in 2011, in which Merck agreed to pay $500 million. Merck Sharp & Dohme remains a subsidiary of the Merck & Co. parent.Richard Clark retired as CEO and company president in October 2011 and Kenneth Frazier became CEO.In October 2013, Merck announced it would cut 8,500 jobs in an attempt to cut $2.5 billion from its costs by 2015. Combined with 7,500 job cuts announced in 2011 and 2012, the layoffs amounted to 20% of its workforce.By 2014, research performed at Merck has led to U.S. FDA approval of 63 new molecular entities.In August 2014, Merck acquired Idenix Pharmaceuticals for $3.85 billion.In December 2014, the company acquired Swiss biotechnology company OncoEthix for up to $375 million.Between 2010 and 2015, the company cut around 36,450 jobs. During that time, the company sold its consumer health business to Bayer and narrowed the company's focus to immunology, vaccines, diabetes, emerging markets and medicines used in hospitals, like certain antibiotics.In January 2015, Merck acquired Cubist Pharmaceuticals.In July 2015, Merck and Ablynx expanded their 18-month-old immuno-oncology collaboration by four years, generating a potential $4.4 billion in milestone payments for the Abylnx. The company also announced it would spend $95 million up front collaborating with cCAM Biotherapeutics and its early-stage treatment similar to Keytruda. Merck & Co. will bring in CM-24, an antibody designed to block the immune checkpoint CEACAM1.In January 2016, Merck announced two new partnerships; the first with Quartet Medicine and its small molecule pain treatments, the second with Complix investigating intracellular cancer targets, with both collaborations potentially generating up to $595 million and $280 million respectively. Days later the company announced it would acquire IOmet Pharma, with IOmet becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co. The acquisition includes IOmets indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO), tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO), and dual-acting inhibitors.In July 2016, the company acquired Afferent Pharmaceuticals, developer of a candidate used to block P2RX3 receptors, for approximately $1 billion, plus up to $750 million in milestone payments.In 2017, Merck bought the PARP inhibitor Lynparza from AstraZeneca.In April 2017, Merck Animal Health acquired Vallée S.A., a Brazilian animal health product manufacturer.In September 2017, the company announced it would acquire Rigontec, developer of a candidate to target the retinoic acid-inducible gene I pathway, for $554 million.In October 2017, the company granted the inaugural Merck-AGITG Clinical Research Fellowship in Gastro-Intestinal (GI) Cancer to David Lau, a professional in Melbourne, Australia.In June 2018, Merck acquired Viralytics, an Australian viral cancer drug company, for AUD$502 million.In 2018, Merck began the submission process for a Biologics License Application to the Food and Drug Administration under the Breakthrough Therapy Designation for an investigational vaccine, called V920, to fight the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus.In April 2019, the company acquired Immune Design for approximately $300 million, gaining access to its immunotherapy programs. It also acquired Antelliq Group for $2.4 billion, or $3.7 billion including debt.In May 2019, Merck announced it would acquire Peloton Therapeutics, developer of a HIF-2alpha inhibitor for Von Hippel–Lindau disease-associated renal cell carcinoma, for up to $2.2 billion.In June 2019, Merck announced it would acquire Tilos Therapeutics for up to $773 million.In November 2019, the company acquired Calporta, which focused on Parkinsons and Alzheimers treatments.In December 2019, Merck Animal Health acquired Vaki, an aquaculture company, from Pentair.\n\n2020–present\nIn January 2020, Merck acquired ArQule, developer of ARQ 531, an oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, for $2.7 billion.In March 2020, Merck was one of ten companies recognised at the inaugural Manufacturing Awards by New Jersey Business magazine and the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.In June 2020, Merck acquired Themis Bioscience, a company focused on vaccines and immune-modulation therapies for infectious diseases including COVID-19 and cancer.Also in June 2020, Merck Animal Health acquired Quantified Ag, a data and analytics company that monitors cattle body temperature and movement in order to detect illness early.In August 2020, Merck Animal Health acquired IdentiGEN, engaged in DNA-based animal traceability.In September 2020, Merck acquired $1 billion of Seattle Genetics common stock, and agreed to co-develop ladiratuzumab vedotin.In November 2020, Merck announced it would acquire VelosBio for $2.75 billion, developer of VLS-101, an antibody-drug conjugate designed to target Tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1) in both hematological and solid tumors. VLS-101 is currently Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. The company also announced it would acquire OncoImmune for $425 million and its phase 3 candidate, CD24Fc, used in the treatment of patients with severe and critical COVID-19.In February 2021, Merck Animal Health acquired PrognostiX Poultry.In March 2021, Merck Head of Corporate Affairs Petra Wicklandt represented the company at the Munich Security Conference, where she participated in a tabletop exercise simulating the public health response to the release of a weaponized strain of monkeypox.In April 2021, Merck acquired Pandion Therapeutics for $1.85 billion, expanding its offering in treating autoimmune diseases.In June 2021, the U.S. government agreed to spend $1.2 billion to purchase 1.7 million doses of Molnupiravir, a Merck product, if it were to be approved by regulators to treat COVID-19. In October 2021, the company said that the drug reduces the risk of hospitalization or death by around 50% for patients with mild or moderate cases of COVID-19 and that it would seek Emergency Use Authorization for the drug.In July 2021, Robert M. Davis became CEO, succeeding Kenneth Frazier, who became executive chairman.In July 2021, Merck completed the corporate spin-off of Organon & Co.In September 2021, Merck announced it would acquire Acceleron Pharma for $11.5 billion, gaining control over Sotatercept, used in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension, and luspatercept-aamt.In September 2022, the company announced it would acquire Vence, a livestock management company for an undisclosed sum, incorporating it within Merck Animal Health.In December 2022, the company announced a licensing deal with Kelun-Biotech of China whereby it would expand its early cancer pipeline with a set of antibody-drug conjugates; this follows an earlier agreement between the two companies to co-develop such drugs.In April 2023, Merck announced it would acquire Prometheus Biosciences Inc for $10.8 billion.\n\nAcquisition history\nPhilanthropy\nMerck Company Foundation\nSince it was founded in 1957, the Merck Company Foundation has distributed $740 million in overall charitable distributions including more than $480 million to educational and non-profit organizations.On December 7, 2012, the foundation announced that it was ending its donations to the Boy Scouts of America citing its discrimination against gay people.\n\nPatient assistance programs\nMerck & Co. was one of the first American pharmaceutical companies to offer assistance to those unable to afford its medications, beginning a program in the 1950s. Merck & Co. offers seven patient assistance programs, each with specific eligibility requirements.\n\nHilleman Laboratories\nMerck and the Wellcome trust jointly fund the Hilleman Laboratories, an India-based non-profit research organization dedicated to the development of low-cost vaccines for use in developing countries. Current projects include the development of low cost, thermostable vaccines for the prevention of cholera, rotavirus, and meningitis.\n\nMerck for Mothers\nMerck for Mothers is Merck's global initiative to help create a world where no woman has to die while giving life.\n\nMectizan donation program\nIn 1987, Merck began a program with UNICEF to donate its new drug Mectizan to \"all that need it for as long as needed\" in an effort to combat onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, primarily in Africa. Up to that point, the World Health Organization had fought the disease through the use of insecticides to lower the population of its primary vector, the Black Fly. However, when studies in the 1980s showed how effective the drug was at treating and preventing the disease, the WHO agreed to use it instead of its previous strategies. Merck's involvement is considered a key factor in the success against the disease all over the world, and the decision to donate the entirety of the drug to all those in need of it is used as part of the Mectizan Donation Program that covers countries such as Yemen and African countries. More than 700 million people have been treated since the inception of the program with 80 million people still undergoing treatment in Africa, Latin America, and Yemen. Blindness caused by onchocerciasis is decreasing, and there are regions of Latin America and Africa that have been shown to have eliminated the disease altogether.\n\nLawsuits and controversies\nVioxx\nIn 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Vioxx (known generically as rofecoxib), a Merck product for treating arthritis. Vioxx was designed as a selective inhibitor of the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2. Such compounds were expected to cause less gastrointestinal bleeding than older anti-inflammatory drugs such as naproxen, which were associated with 20,000 hospitalizations and 2000 deaths each year. Vioxx became one of the most prescribed drugs in history.Thereafter, studies by Merck and by others found an increased risk of heart attack associated with Vioxx use when compared with naproxen. Merck adjusted the labeling of Vioxx to reflect possible cardiovascular risks in 2002.On September 23, 2004, Merck received information about results from a clinical trial it was conducting that included findings of increased risk of heart attacks among Vioxx users who had been using the medication for over eighteen months. On September 28, 2004, Merck notified the FDA that it was voluntarily withdrawing Vioxx from the market, and it publicly announced the withdrawal on September 30. An analysis for the period 1999–2004, based on U.S. Medical Expenditure Survey data, reported that Vioxx was associated with 46,783 heart attacks, and along with the other popular COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex, an estimated 26,603 deaths from both.About 50,000 people sued Merck, claiming they or their family members had suffered medical problems such as heart attacks or strokes after taking Vioxx. In November 2007, Merck agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle most of the pending Vioxx lawsuits. The settlement required that claimants provide medical and pharmacy records confirming the occurrence of a heart attack, ischemic stroke, or sudden cardiac death; the receipt of at least 30 Vioxx pills within 60 days prior to the injury or death; and confirmation of Vioxx being used within 14 days of the Vioxx-related event. The settlement was generally viewed by industry analysts and investors as a victory for Merck, considering that original estimates of Merck's liability reached between $10 billion and $25 billion. As of mid-2008, when the plaintiff class had reached the threshold percentage required by Merck to go through with the settlement, plaintiffs had prevailed in only three of the twenty cases that had reached juries, all with relatively small awards.Merck has refused to consider compensation for Vioxx victims and their families outside the US. This is particularly true in the UK where there are at least 400 victims and the legal protection afforded to the victims and their families is particularly weak.According to internal e-mail traffic released at a later lawsuit, Merck had a list of doctors critical of Vioxx to be \"neutralized\" or \"discredited\". \"We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live,\" wrote an employee. A Stanford Medical School professor said that Merck was engaged in intimidation of researchers and infringement upon academic freedom.On May 20, 2008, Merck settled for $58 million with 30 states alleging that Merck engaged in deceptive marketing tactics to promote Vioxx. All its new television pain-advertisements must be vetted by the Food and Drug Administration and changed or delayed upon request until 2018.\n\nFosamax\nFosamax (alendronate) is a bisphosphonate used for the treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis and for the prevention of skeletal problems in certain cancers. The American College of Clinical Endocrinology, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the North American Menopause Society and the UK National Osteoporosis Guideline Group recommend alendronate and certain other bisphosphonates as first line treatments for post-menopausal osteopotosis. Long-term treatment with bisphosponates produces anti-fracture and bone mineral density effects that persist for 3–5 years after an initial 3–5 years of treatment. Alendronate reduces the risk of hip, vertebral, and wrist fractures by 35-39%.In December 2013, Merck agreed to pay a total of $27.7 million to 1,200 plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit alleging that the company's osteoporosis drug had caused them to develop osteonecrosis of the jaw. Prior to the settlement, Merck had prevailed in 3 of 5 so-called bellwether trials. Approximately 4000 cases still await adjudication or settlement as of August 2014.\n\nMedicaid overbilling\nA fraud investigation by the United States Department of Justice began in 2000 when allegations were brought in two separate lawsuits filed by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act. They alleged that Merck failed to pay proper rebates to Medicaid and other health care programs and paid illegal remuneration to health care providers. On February 7, 2008, Merck agreed to pay more than $650 million to settle charges that it routinely overbilled Medicaid for its most popular medicines. The settlement was one of the largest pharmaceutical settlements in history. The federal government received more than $360 million, plus 49 states and Washington, DC, received over $290 million. One whistleblower received a $68 million reward. Merck made the settlement without an admission of liability or wrongdoing.\n\n\"Merck\" name legal dispute\nIn 191 of 193 countries, the original Merck company, the Merck Group of Darmstadt, owns the rights to the \"Merck\" name. In the United States and Canada, the company trades under the name EMD (an abbreviation of Emanuel Merck, Darmstadt), its legal name here says Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and instead of \"Merck Group\", the \"EMD Group\" name is used. In the United States and Canada, Merck & Co. holds the rights to the trademark \"Merck\", while in the rest of the world the company trades under the name MSD (an abbreviation of Merck, Sharp & Dohme) and its legal name says here Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. Kenilworth, NJ, USA.\nIn 2015 the Merck Group adopted a new logo and said it will be \"much more aggressive\" about protecting the brand of \"the real Merck\". Merck of Darmstadt has initiated litigation against its former subsidiary, Merck & Co. (MSD) of Kenilworth, in several countries over infringing use of the Merck name. In 2016, the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom ruled that MSD had breached an agreement with its former parent company and that only Merck of Darmstadt is entitled to use the Merck name in the United Kingdom. The judge also held that MSD's use of \"Merck\" as part of branding on its global websites were directed to the UK and infringed Merck's trade mark rights in the UK.In response to the ruling, MSD initiated counter-litigation in the United States in January 2016 by filing a federal lawsuit which accused its former parent company of \"infringing on its trademark\" through actions that included the increased usage of \"Merck KGaA\" and \"MERCK\" in branding in the US as well as on its social media presence. Further Merck & Co. has also accused the Merck Group of federal trademark dilution, unfair competition, false advertising, deceptive trade practices, breach of contract, and cybersquatting. The case came to a head when a research scientist believed he was communicating with Merck & Co regarding a research grant in oncology, when in fact he was talking with the Merck Group. As a result, Merck & Co. asked the federal court to stop the Merck Group from using \"Merck\" on any products or marketing materials in the United States. As a direct result, Merck & Co is seeking \"all monetary gains, profits, and advantages\" made by the Merck Group and three-times the damage, plus additional punitive damages.In April 2020, in the course of litigation of Merck against MSD in Switzerland, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland ruled that MSD's use of the \"Merck\" brand in its global websites could, absent geotargeting mechanisms, have \"commercial effect\" in Switzerland and could therefore violate Merck's rights (if any) to the \"Merck\" brand in Switzerland.\n\nTax fraud\nIn 2007, Merck paid $2.3 billion to settle allegations of offshore tax fraud between 1993 and 2001.\n\nPropecia\nIn 2021, an investigation by Reuters revealed that Merck's baldness drug Propecia caused persistent sexual dysfunction in men. The drug has been linked to over 700 incidences of suicidal thoughts and 110 deaths. Merck has been receiving reports since 1998, but never included the risks on the label. In 2015, Merck was sued by consumer-rights law firm Hagens Berman over a wrongful death linked to Propecia.\n\nEnvironmental violations\nMerck & Co. once used methylene chloride, an animal carcinogen on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's list of pollutants, as a solvent in some of its manufacturing processes. Merck chemists and engineers subsequently replaced the compound with others having fewer negative environmental effects. Merck has also modified its equipment to protect the environment, installing a distributed control system that coordinates chemical reactions more efficiently and expedites manufacturing by 50 percent, eliminating the need for the disposal and storage of harmful waste. Biological oxygen demand has also been reduced. In 2011, Merck paid a $1.5 million civil penalty to settle alleged violations of federal environmental laws at its pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in Riverside, Pennsylvania and West Point, Pennsylvania.\n\nPublic-private engagement\nConferences\nMerck was a Conference Supporter for the Virtual ISPOR Asia Pacific conference in September 2020.\n\nPolitical lobbying\nMerck is a contributing member of AcademyHealth, a health research advocacy network that also includes government agencies, universities, pharmaceutical companies and lobbying groups.\nPassage 2:\nAmerican Laser Games\nAmerican Laser Games was a company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico that created numerous light gun laserdisc video games featuring live action full motion video. The company was founded in the late 1980s by Robert Grebe, who had originally created a system to train police officers under the company name ICAT (Institute for Combat Arms and Tactics) and later adapted the technology for arcade games. Its first hit game was Mad Dog McCree, a light gun shooter set in the American Old West. By mid-1995 they were recognized as the leading company in the medium of laserdisc-based arcade games. Almost all arcade games released by the company were light gun shooters and a number of them also had an Old West theme.\nLater, the company turned toward compact disc technology to release its games. Ports of its arcade titles were released for the Sega CD, CD-i and DOS computers equipped with CD-ROM drives. The company was particularly supportive of the 3DO, not only releasing versions of its games for the console, but also offering a modified version of the 3DO platform as an upgrade kit for existing arcade video game cabinets, supporting compressed video versions of their games at a lower cost. In 1995, American Laser Games released Mazer for the 3DO home market and Orbatak (3DO-powered) for the arcade - their first and only in-house non-Full motion video based games. The company also released a series of light-gun controllers, including the 3DO Game Gun and the PC Gamegun, for home computer use. The latter proved unsuccessful due to its poor accuracy.\nAmerican Laser Games lasted until the mid-to-late 1990s, by which time it had begun making \"games for girls\" for the PC under the moniker Her Interactive, beginning with McKenzie & Co. In response to a major slump in the arcade industry, American Laser Games ended its direct manufacturing of coin-op machines in November 1995, and turned its focus to developing games for the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. This failed to revive the company's fortunes, and revenues in 1996 were roughly half of the $16 million it generated in 1995. At the end of 1996 ALG laid off a third of its staff, Jan Claesson replaced Grebe as president, and the company began focusing primarily on the Her Interactive line, cancelling all the games in their mainstream line except for Shining Sword. The company eventually closed its doors and was bought out by Her Interactive, which had been spun off before ALG closing and is still making games as of January 2018. In 2000, the development and publishing rights to all of the games that were produced by American Laser Games were purchased by Digital Leisure, Inc from Her Interactive. Many of these games were then re-released for the PC and in DVD TV game format.\n\nGames\nLight gun arcade games\nMad Dog McCree (1990)\nWho Shot Johnny Rock? (1991)\nSpace Pirates (1992)\nMad Dog II: The Lost Gold (1992)\nGallagher's Gallery (1992)\nCrime Patrol (1993)\nCrime Patrol 2: Drug Wars (1993)\nThe Last Bounty Hunter (1994)\nFast Draw Showdown (1994)\nShootout at Old Tucson (1994, limited arcade release. 3DO port was cancelled)\n\nOther games\nMazer\nWay of the Warrior (with Naughty Dog)\nOrbatak\nMcKenzie & Co.\nMcKenzie & Co. : More Friends\nThe Vampire Diaries\nBattles in Time (with QQP)\nShining Sword (cancelled)\nBlood Bath at Red Falls(1995)\n\nSee also\nDigital Pictures\n\nNotes\nPassage 3:\nDevon General\nDevon General was the principal bus operator in south Devon from 1919. The name was first used by the Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company which was created in 1919. In 1922 it was purchased by the National Electric Construction Company which merged with British Electric Traction in 1931. Nationalisation in 1969 resulted in 1971 with the company being merged into Western National. In 1983 a new Devon General Limited was created which became the first operating subsidiary of the National Bus Company to be privatised in 1986 when it became the first company of Transit Holdings. It was sold to the Stagecoach Group in 1996 and renamed Stagecoach Devon in 2003.\nCoaches were operated under various names, principally Fleet Cars from 1925 until 1933, and Grey Cars from 1932 until 1971.\nIts main principal depots were in Exeter and Torquay, but the area of operation covered most of south, east and mid Devon.\n\nHistory\nThe Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company started operations in south Devon in 1919 with two bus routes from Exeter to Torquay. In 1922 Torquay Tramways bought the company for £36,000, although it was operated as a subsidiary of the National Electric Construction Company (NECC) and the motor buses already owned by the tramway company were transferred to Devon General. Some charabanc tours had been operated by the Torquay Tramways and this continued under Devon General. A local independent company that traded as Fleet Cars was purchased in 1925 but continued to operate as a separate business for a few seasons, during which time a number of other small operators were also acquired and merged with Fleet Cars.In 1931 the NECC became a part of British Electric Traction (BET). The Torquay tram network was closed in January 1934. The Tramways company was sold to Devon General, the fleet of which was enlarged by 24 buses to allow it to operate the former tram routes.Devon General had turned down the chance to buy local independent coach operator Grey Cars in 1930 so it had instead been purchased by A Timpson & Sons of Catford in 1931. Timpsons sold the business to Devon General in 1932 and the following year both Grey Cars and Fleet Cars, which had been operated as separate businesses, were merged into Devon General. Most coaches continued to operate under Grey Cars' name, although some small operators that were subsequently bought out by Devon General continued in their old names for a while.\n\nNational Bus Company\nBET's bus operations, including Devon General, became part of the National Bus Company (NBC) when it was formed on 1 January 1969. Devon General had worked closely with the Corporation of Exeter's bus services since 1947. In April 1970 the corporation's buses and routes were transferred to the NBC and merged into Devon General. The city's unusual use of route letters (as opposed to numbers) continued.In January 1971, the NBC transferred the bus operations of Devon General to neighbouring Western National but the Devon General name was retained as a brand, while the Grey Cars coaching operation was transferred to Exeter-based Greenslades. NBC split Western National into four new companies on 1 January 1983, one of which was Devon General Limited. This operated in south and east Devon as the old Devon General had done, but the Tiverton area became a part of a new North Devon operation.\n\nTransit Holdings\nOn 19 August 1986, Devon General became the first NBC operating subsidiary to be privatised under the Transport Act 1985 by being sold in a management buyout led by managing director Harry Blundred.An experimental high-frequency service using 22 minibuses had been introduced in Exeter on 27 February 1984. By the time the company was privatised in August 1986, the minibus fleet had expanded to more than 200 vehicles, more than half the buses in service. By the end of 1990 all regular services had been converted to minibus operation using a mixture of 16 and 24-seat vehicles.The new owners of Devon General formed Transit Holdings to operate number of other bus companies, most of them in southern England:\nBayline (Torquay)\nDevon General (Exeter)\nDocklands Transit (London)\nPortsmouth Transit (Portsmouth)\nThames Transit (Oxford)\nTransit AustraliaBayline was established in 1992 for the operations in Torbay and Newton Abbot, after which Devon General operated in the Exeter area. Both companies were sold to the Stagecoach Group in 1996, and became Stagecoach Devon in 2003.\n\nArea of operation\nDevon General quickly expanded beyond its original routes between Exeter, Newton Abbot and Torquay. A number of small operators were bought out (see below), but area agreements with larger neighbours set out the company's area of operation. While the boundaries changed in detail from time to time, the area was largely set out in two agreements.\n\nIn 1922 an eastern boundary was agreed with the National Omnibus and Transport Company along the road from Minehead via Tiverton, Cullompton and Honiton to Sidmouth.\nIn 1924 a northern boundary was agreed with Hardy Central Garage between Okehampton, Bampton and Wellington.\nBy 1929 the western boundary had settled at Kingswear, Totnes, Buckfastleigh and Okehampton, with Western National having control beyond.\n\nOffices and depots\nMost of the directors of the Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company came from the London area and so the company offices were established in a house Kilmore Road, Forest Hill, London. The first buses were housed at the Exeter Garage Company's premises in Paris Street, Exeter. In 1921 the offices were moved to the new garage that was being constructed at Blackboy Road in Exeter, but the takeover by the NECC the following year saw the office moved back to Queen Street in the city of London.The merger of NECC with BET in 1932 saw the Queen Street office closed in favour of BET's headquarters in Kingsway, London. At around this time work started on the construction of a new large garage and central workshops at Newton Road in Torquay. The BET headquarters were moved across London to Piccadilly in 1952 but in 1956 the registered offices of Devon General were moved to the garage at 87 Newton Road, Torquay.When Devon General was absorbed into Western National in 1971, all the office work was moved to the latter company' offices in Queen Street, Exeter. The newly independent Devon General Limited of 1983 chose to remain in Exeter, but moved into offices in Belgrave Road where a new bus depot had opened in 1975.Buses were based in garages or open yards at\nAshburton\nDropping Wells 1925–1927\nWest Street (Blue Saloon Motor Services) 1927–1928\nBrixham\nNew Road 1935–1939\nMount Pleasant Road 1940–1957\nBus Station 1957–1992\nCrediton\nUnknown site 1928?–1931\nMill Street 1931–1954\nExeter\nGold's Garage, Heavitree Road 1919–1921\nBlackboy Road 1921–1971\nHeavitree Road (Exeter Corporation) 1970–1975\nBelgrave Road 1975–(1996)\nExmouth\nNew Street 1921–1931\nImperial Road 1931–(1996)\nMoretonhampstead\nStation Road June – September 1924\nSteven's Garage, Chagford 1924–1928?\nCourt Street 1928–1971 Moved to a different site in Court Street in 1931\nNewton Abbot\nBradley Hotel 1919–1921\nNewton Road, Kingsteignton 1921–1960\nKingsteignton Road 1960–1992\nPaignton\nRoundham Road 1923–1925\nChurston 1925–1930\nOrient Road, Preston 1924–1932\nBus Station 1988–(1996) The bus station opened in 1954\nSidmouth\nMill Street 1922–?\nStation Road, Newton Poppleford ?–1930\nWoolbrook 1930–1996\nTiverton\nChapel Street (Croscols) 1924–1938\nOld Road 1938–1971 After 1971 buses were kept at the bus station.\nTorquay\nWesthill Avenue (Torquay Tramways) 1922–1931\nNewton Road 1931–1988\nTorwood Street (Grey Cars) 1933–1940 and 1946–1971\nBelgrave Road (Court Garages) 1940–1946 and 1966–1973\nRegents Close 1992–(1996)One or two buses were also kept at a number of other towns and villages such as Axminster (1922–1924, 1927–1984), Budleigh Salterton (1930–1939, 1988–1989), Crockernwell (1942–1957), Cullompton (1922–1996), East Budleigh 1921–1931, Kenton (1942–1947), Okehampton (1923–1997), Ottery St Mary (1927–1938, 1949–1967), Tiverton Junction (1955–1977), Uffculme (1942–1954).\n\nLivery\nThe first buses were painted in red with cream relief. Coaches were generally grey with deep red relief and open top buses (introduced in 1955) were given a cream livery with red relief.In 1972 NBC imposed a standard poppy red colour with white relief, but from 1979 Devon General buses started to be painted in leaf green and white, the same colours as the parent Western National fleet. Six months after the operation became independent of Western National in 1983 a red livery was again adopted. The first minibuses were painted in bright red and yellow colours with a black skirt.To coincide with privatisation in 1986 a new livery was introduced. Buses were painted an ivory colour with red skirt and lower deck window surrounds.\n\nAmalgamated companies\nOver the years many rival operators were purchased and their fleets and/or routes were amalgamated into Devon General.\n\nTorquay–Chelston Car Company\nThe Torquay–Chelston Car Company, which Devon General bought in 1927, had its origins in 1903, when a Chelmsford steam bus was demonstrated in Torquay in May 1903. Torquay & District Motor Omnibus Co Ltd, formed on 23 July 1903, ran a Strand - Chelston route from 2 November 1903 via Torbay Road and Rathmore Road terminating at Normanhurst, just short of Rosery Road railway bridge. The bus was green with orange lines and the domed roof was white. It carried 12 inside and 2 beside the driver and 2,828 passengers in the first week. 8 steam buses were working by Easter 1905 between St Marychurch and Babbacombe, but sold after trams started on 4 April 1907. Torquay Road Car took over the old bus garage and ran until liquidation on 24 December 1908.\nOn 28 March 1911 Torquay-Chelston Steam Car Company Ltd started with 3 Chelmsford buses, possibly those stored after the liquidation. They dropped the 'Steam' part of the name when a single deck RAF type Leyland took over, after Devon General started a competing Meadfoot Beach - Chelston route on 31 March 1923. The Chelston company bought a new Leyland PLSC Lion in 1925. In 1926, Devon General started to shadow the Chelston bus. The company sold out to Devon General in 1927, the Leylands becoming 98 and 99 in their fleet. The Devon General timetables were revised in July, 1929, with numbering similar to current services, including 32 (Torquay - Paignton via Preston), 33 (Strand-Chelston circular) and 35 (Shiphay Turn - Meadfoot Beach).\nOn the Chelston routes Devon General used Leyland Lions, Dennis Lancet lIs from 1938, AEC Regals from 1939, Leyland Royal Tigers in 1954, AEC Reliances in 1957, Regent IIIs in 1960 and Leyland Atlanteans from 1964.\n\nSee also\nOpen top buses in Torbay\nPassage 4:\nHercules Inc.\nHercules, Inc. was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware, United States, incorporated in 1912 as the Hercules Powder Company following the breakup of the DuPont explosives monopoly by the U.S. Circuit Court in 1911.  Hercules Powder Company became Hercules, Inc. in 1966,  operating under this name until 2008, when it was merged into Ashland Inc.\nAn earlier Hercules Powder Company was formed in 1882 by DuPont and Laflin & Rand Powder Company.  This company was dissolved on June 30, 1904.Hercules was one of the major producers of smokeless powder for warfare in the United States during the 20th century. At the time of its spin-off, the DuPont Corp. retained the processes and patents for the production of \"single-base\" nitrocellulose gunpowders, whereas Hercules was given the patents and processes for the production of \"double-base\" gunpowders that combined nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine.\n\nHistory\nA special formulation of dynamite was patented in 1874 by J.W. Willard, superintendent of the California Powder Works in Santa Cruz, California. He called his invention \"Hercules powder\", a competitive jab at rival Giant Powder Company which had acquired the exclusive U.S. rights to Alfred Nobel's original dynamite formula.  The mythological Hercules was known as a giant slayer.\nThe California Powder Works became the only manufacturer of Hercules powder. In 1877, J.W. Willard moved to Cleveland, Ohio to oversee the opening of a new California Powder Works plant there, dedicated to the manufacture of Hercules powder. In 1881, the California Powder Works moved its Hercules powder manufacturing in California to a new site along the northeast shore of San Francisco Bay.  The company town that grew up around the facility became known as \"Hercules\", later (1900) incorporated as Hercules, California.\nIn 1882, thanks to their interlocking ownership interests with the California Powder Works by that time, the DuPont corporation and Laflin & Rand Powder Company acquired the rights to manufacture Hercules powder and incorporated the Hercules Powder Company for that purpose.  In 1904, Du Pont dissolved the company as part of its ongoing effort to consolidate the many explosives manufacturers that it controlled under the Du Pont name.\nIn 1911, the United States won a lawsuit that it had brought against the Du Pont corporation under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The U.S. Circuit Court in Delaware found that Du Pont had been operating an unlawful monopoly, and ordered a breakup of its explosives and gunpowder manufacturing business.  The breakup resulted in the creation of two new companies in 1912, Atlas Powder Company and Hercules Powder Company. Atlas received the explosives manufacturing portion of Du Pont's business (including the facilities acquired from the Giant Powder Company), while Hercules received the gunpowder portion.\nThe first management team of this new Hercules Powder Company included President H. Dunham, T.W. Bacchus, G.G. Rheuby, J.T Skelly, Norman Rood, Fred Stark, C.D. Prickett, and George Markell.Some of their products were used by the military in World War I. A school and a plant were named after T. W. Bacchus in Bacchus, Utah. Hercules Powder Company ranked 65th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.In the 1920s and 30s, Hercules diversified into the pine resin products business (see below).\nOn 12 September 1940, the Kenvil, New Jersey plant suffered a major explosion. News reports at the time estimated at least fifteen buildings were destroyed along with twenty-five tons of explosives. Fifty-one people were killed outright with perhaps two hundred injured and many missing. This facility also exploded twice in 1934 and again in 1989.Richard F. Heck, recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, gained experience with transition metal chemistry while working at Hercules in 1957.By the 1960s, the community was experiencing the first signs of a suburban transition. The Hercules Powder Co., once a small dynamite manufacturing firm, had begun producing rocket motors at its Bacchus Works south of the Magna community. The growing availability of jobs was one factor encouraging subdivision development in the Magna, Kearns and West Valley areas.\nIn 1966, the Hercules Powder Company changed its name to Hercules, Inc.\n\nIn 1995, Hercules, Inc. sold its subsidiary Hercules Aerospace Co. to Alliant Techsystems Inc. The sale included all of what remained of Hercules' gunpowder lines.\nBy the end of the 1990s, Hercules Inc., had sold off a significant number of its divisions that had not been profitable for the company. This caused the price of shares of common stock in Hercules to rise above US$70. Several successful cost-savings programs were implemented in addition to buying back its own shares.  Also at that time, Hercules had a significant amount of assets  available for possible purchases of other corporations. Hercules, Inc., had a Paper Technology Division (PTD) whose products were slowly becoming commodities. In order to survive, this division needed to obtain new products.\nFirst, Hercules Inc., tried to purchase the Allied Colloids Company, but this was not successful. Next, Hercules bought the Betz-Dearborn Corporation. Betz-Dearborn produced mostly chemicals for paper processing, and the Hercules PTD produced mainly functional chemicals for paper. According to some business analysts, Hercules Inc. paid about three times as much for Betz-Dearborn as compared with its actual value.\nSoon after the purchase of Betz-Dearborn, the price per share of stock in Hercules Inc., had dropped from above US$70 to below US$10. It has been speculated that Hercules Inc., was close to going bankrupt after this failed purchase operation. Afterwards, several senior managers were forced out of the company because of this failure; however, a significant amount of former PTD senior managers were able to keep their positions within Hercules. The price of stock shares in Hercules Inc. never recovered from this debacle. Finally, Hercules Inc. was sold off to the Ashland Corporation in 2008, and dissolved.\nIn 2009, rapper George Watsky released a song about the history of the company called \"Hercules\".\n\nProduct lines\nCommercial gunpowders\nSome of the more recent gunpowders marketed to reloaders include the brand names \"Bullseye\", \"2400\", \"Reloder\", \"Unique\", and \"Red Dot\".  These gunpowders are still being manufactured by Alliant Techsystems Inc. in Radford, Virginia.\n\nPowders inherited from DuPont in 1912\nEC (Explosives Company) shotgun powder was the first smokeless powder manufactured in the United States.  Production began in 1890, and was discontinued in 1931.\nWA .30 caliber powder was named W for United States Army Lieutenant Whistler and A for American Smokeless Powder Company factory superintendent Aspinwall.  This tubular powder was used for military loading of the .30 U.S. Army (the M1892 Springfield and the M1893 Gatling) from 1894 until the military specification was changed to single-base nitrocellulose powder in 1908.  Grains of 2 mm (0.08 inch) diameter were 1 mm long.  Hercules continued producing the powder for other users until 1930.\nSharpshooter was a flake powder introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1897 to replace black powder for loading the .45-70.  Black flakes containing 15 to 18 percent nitroglycerin were approximately 2 mm in diameter.  Production was discontinued after World War II.\nBullseye was introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1898.  Large surface area per unit weight enables rapid combustion in short-barreled handguns.  Laflin & Rand began production using small, irregular particles removed by screening runs of larger grained powders.  Improved manufacturing processes offered other reclamation options for reduced quantities of rejected material.  Hercules manufactured Bullseye as thin, round flakes.  It is believed to be the oldest smokeless powder formulation still being manufactured in the United States.  It is designed for handguns and can also be used in 12-gauge shotgun target loads\nLightning was introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1899 for lever action sporting rifles like the .30-30 Winchester and .303 Savage.  Production of 2 mm diameter flakes was discontinued after World War II.  Tubular Lightning # 2 was manufactured from 1903 to 1929.\nInfallible was a flake shotgun powder introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1900.  Initial production had an orange color, but graphite coating gave later production a black color.  Production was discontinued after World War II.\nUnique is a gray flake powder introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1900.  Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter.  It is designed for shotguns and can be used in handguns.\nBear was a tubular powder introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1908 for small capacity rifle cartridges like the .351 and .401 Winchester Self-Loading and the .32-20 and .25-20 Winchester.  Production was discontinued after World War II.\nMilitary Rifle (MR) # 19 was a tubular powder containing 20 percent nitroglycerin introduced by DuPont in 1908 and was renamed HiVel (# 1) when manufactured by Hercules.  It was modified as HiVel # 2 in 1915.  Production was discontinued in 1964.  A smaller grained version was produced as HiVel # 3 from 1926 to 1941.\n\nPowders developed by Hercules Powder Company\nHercules # 308 was Hercules production of single-base tubular Pyro DG (Diphenylamine Graphited) powder for loading military .30-06 Springfield ammunition through World War I.  Production began in 1915 and continued through the 1920s.\nHercules # 300 was a black, tubular single-base rifle powder produced from 1916 to 1932.\nPyro was produced from 1922 to 1928 as lightly graphited yellow flakes for loading the .45 ACP.\nHercules # 2400 is a coated flake powder containing 20 percent nitroglycerin introduced in 1932.  Individual dark gray flakes are approximately 1 mm (0.04 inch) in diameter and 0.3 mm thick.  It is designed for small capacity center-fire rifle cartridges and can be used in magnum handgun and .410 bore shotgun loads.\nRed Dot is a flake powder introduced in 1932.  Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter and some are dyed red to aid identification.  It is designed for light and standard loads for 12, 16, and 20 gauge shotguns and can be used in handguns.\nHiVel # 6 was produced from 1933 to 1941 for loading the .30-06 Springfield.\nHerco is a flake powder introduced in the 1930s.  Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter.  It is designed for heavy loads for 10, 12, 16, 20 and 28 gauge shotguns and can be used for heavy handgun loads.\nGreen Dot is a flake powder introduced in 1965.  Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter and some are dyed green to aid identification.  It is designed for medium and standard loads for 12, 16, and 20 gauge shotguns and can be used in handguns.\nReloder 7 was the most popular of three cylindrical rifle powders introduced in 1965 to replace HiVel # 2.  Each powder was blended from four different formulations dyed different colors.  Production of the other two longer-grained powders, Reloder 11 and Reloder 21, was discontinued in 1972.\nBlue Dot is a flake powder introduced in 1972.  Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter and some are dyed blue to aid identification.  It is designed for magnum loads for 10, 12, 16, 20 and 28 gauge shotguns and can be used for magnum handgun loads.\n\nPine resin products\nIn the 1920s, Hercules entered the pine resin products business, a development which followed upon the faster clearing of forests for lumber and farmland , especially in the southeast U.S., around the time of the First World War. The clearings had left many stumps which had to be removed, often with dynamite supplied by Hercules and others.  Hercules itself was a consumer of wood pulp, a key ingredient in their dynamite. The increasing surplus of wood pulp led the company to the idea of producing other things from it, namely, the various chemicals that were present in pine resin. They set up production sites such as the one in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Brunswick, Georgia for this express purpose, and added to their raw supply by offering to take or buy tree stumps from farmers.\n\nSolid-fuel rocket motor production\nBeginning in 1959, Hercules, Inc., began to diversify into the production of large solid-propellant rocket motors, and it soon became a primary producer of these, especially for the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Army - and to a lesser degree for the civilian National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1961, the company hired contractors C.H. Leavell & Company, Morrison-Knudsen, and Alaskan Plumbing and Heating Company to expand the existing Bacchus Works site. The contractors added \"Air Force Plant 81\" adding 97 buildings, including a 97,000 square foot administration building. One of its major solid-fuel rocket products was the third-stage engine for the three -stage solid-fueled Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the U.S. Air Force, of which 1,000 were made and deployed at Air Force Bases in several northern states during the 1960s. In addition, all of the missiles of the Minuteman I series were removed from service and replaced with the Minuteman II and Minuteman III series of more-advanced ICBMs. Hence, the Minuteman ICBM program was a huge project and a major source of revenue for Hercules, Inc.\nHercules, Inc., also produced the solid-fueled rocket motors for the two-stage Polaris missile system of intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) for the U.S. Navy in its 41 for Freedom series of 41 George Washington class ballistic missile submarines. These nuclear submarines carried 16 Polaris missiles apiece for a grand total of 656 missiles. In addition, the Polaris series consisted of the successively-improved Polaris A-1, Polaris A-2, and Polaris A-3 missiles. The early Polaris submarines that had been armed with the Polaris A-1 were upgraded to the Polaris A-2; and then all that had been armed with the Polaris A-2 were upgraded to the Polaris A-3.\nFor some of the early Polaris submarines, the Polaris A-3 was the end of their upgrades, but a large number of them (about 31) were further rearmed with the more-advanced and longer-ranged two-stage Poseidon C-3 missile. Hence, the Polaris missile submarine program was also a huge project and a major source of revenue for Hercules, Inc.\nDuring the 1960s, Hercules, Inc., also made solid-fuel rocket motors for hundreds of the U.S. Army's Honest John missile, a mobile tactical missile for carrying tactical nuclear weapons for U.S. Army divisions. The Honest John missile was mostly deployed with the U.S. Seventh Army in West Germany as part of the American commitment to NATO to defend Western Europe against aggression from the Warsaw Pact, using nuclear weapons on Eastern Europe, if necessary. None of the Honest John, Minuteman, Polaris, or Poseidon has ever been used in combat, and the threat of nuclear war has been sufficient to deter aggression and make it unnecessary to use nuclear weapons for defense.\nDuring the 1970s and 80s, the Honest John missile was removed from deployment, scrapped, and replaced by the more-advanced Lance missile by the U.S. Army in Europe. Of all of the missiles mentioned above, only a reduced number of the Minuteman missiles remain in service at Air Force Bases in the United States, with all of the others having been removed from deployment and scrapped, along with all of the Polaris and Poseidon submarines.\nFor space exploration and satellite launches by the U.S. Air Force and NASA, Hercules, Inc., developed and manufactured the two large, strap-on solid-fueled Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU) booster rockets for the otherwise liquid-fueled Titan IVB rockets. These strap-on rockets replaced the UA120 series of boosters used on the Titan IVB's predecessors, the Titan IIIC, Titan IIIE and Titan IVA.\nAfter the end of production and firing of NASA's huge Saturn IB and \nSaturn V rockets, the Titan IV was the largest and heaviest  unmanned rocket available anywhere in the world, and especially in the Titan IV-Centaur version. The Titan IV-Centaur was used for special launches of heavy space probes into the Solar System, such as the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn which was launched in 1997. The Titan IV is no longer manufactured, and the last one of these was fired during a launch in October 2005.  In 1995 the aerospace division of Hercules, including its solid motor line, was acquired by the American defense contractor ATK.\n\nBusiness segments\nIn its later years, Hercules, Inc., manufactured and marketed worldwide specialist chemicals that were used in a wide variety of industrial, home, and office markets, and it and had over 4,500 employees. Hercules was composed of two major divisions: the Paper Technologies and Ventures (PTV) division and the Aqualon division. In 2005, the former accounted for 49% of its sales and 35% of its operating profits, with the latter producing 37% and 68% respectively.\n\nAqualon Group\nAqualon produces products for physical property modification of aqueous systems which are sold into a wide variety of industries including personal care, food additives, and construction.\n\nPaper Technologies and Ventures Group\nPaper Technologies\nPaper Technologies produces specialty chemicals to the pulp and paper industry. These products include functional, process, and water treatment chemicals for a wide variety of pulp and paper applications.\nFunctional chemicals can be divided in three main groups. Wet strength resins, Rosin sizes and AKD -sizes. Significant persons developing functional chemicals in Hercules could be mentioned: Dr. Keim on his efforts developing PAE wet strength resin, Mr Kai Kiviö on his efforts on developing cationic rosin size. Basis of AKD -technology Hercules acquired more or less voluntary from German BASF after the Second World War.\n\nVentures\nVentures produces specialty chemicals for a variety of markets, including adhesives and sealants, paints, inks, coatings, lubricants, rubber, plastics, and building and construction.\nHercules Incorporated, in collaboration with Professor Kaichang Li of Oregon State University and Columbia Forest Products, received a 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for the Greener Synthetic Pathways category in developing and commercializing a formaldehyde-free adhesive made from soy flour and Hercules' unique polymer chemistries.\n\nSee also\nTekoi, a former solid fuel rocket motor test and calibration site operated by Hercules Aerospace\nPassage 5:\nDoravirine\nDoravirine, sold under the brand name Pifeltro, is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor medication developed by Merck & Co. for use in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.\nDoravirine was approved for medical use in the United States in August 2018.\nPassage 6:\nLiquid Assets Paint & Pigment Company\nLiquid Assets Paint & Pigment Company is an artist supply company based in Buenos Aires, Argentina that manufactures acrylic paints and pigments created with real currency, such as Euro, US Dollar, Argentine Peso, and Romanian Leu. The Company's slogan \"The Price of Art\" refers to the company's assertion that its products allow fine artists to quantify the precise and actual value of a work of art created using Liquid Assets products. The company was started in 2007 by a group of Buenos Aires–based professional artists and presently operates a manufacturing plant in Buenos Aires, as well as a retail store in the Palermo Soho neighborhood. In September 2010, Liquid Assets opened a temporary pop up store in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood in conjunction with the Swervewolf Experience marketing and design firm. Although artists have used valuable commodities such as gold leaf to create works of art for centuries, such as gilding, Liquid Assets Paint & Pigment Company is the world's only known manufacturer of artist paint and pigment created with actual currency.\nPassage 7:\nNew England Emigrant Aid Company\nThe New England Emigrant Aid Company (originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company) was a transportation company founded in Boston, Massachusetts by activist Eli Thayer in the wake of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed the population of Kansas Territory to choose whether slavery would be legal. The Company's ultimate purpose was to transport anti-slavery immigrants into the Kansas Territory. The Company believed that if enough anti-slavery immigrants settled en masse in the newly-opened territory, they would be able to shift the balance of political power in the territory, which in turn would lead to Kansas becoming a free state (rather than a slave state) when it eventually joined the United States.The Company is noted less for its direct impact than for the psychological impact it had on proslavery and abolitionist groups. Thayer's prediction that the Company would eventually be able to send 20,000 immigrants a year never came to fruition, but it spurred border ruffians from nearby Missouri, where slavery was legal, to move to Kansas to ensure its admission to the Union as a slave state. That, in turn, further galvanized Free-Staters and other enemies of the Slave Power.\nThayer's intention was to capitalize on anti-slavery sentiment in the Northern United States and to send settlers to Kansas to purchase land and build houses, shops, and mills. They could then sell the land at a significant profit and send the proceeds back to Thayer and his investors. At the behest of several investors, who found the notion of profiting from the anti-slavery cause distasteful, the company's model was shifted to that of a benevolent society, and it was renamed the New England Emigrant Aid Company in 1855. While the company achieved neither a profit nor a significant impact on the population of Kansas, it played an important role in the events that would later be termed Bleeding Kansas.\n\nCreation\nThe Company was formed in the midst of the sectional crisis that preceded the American Civil War. To the Northern United States, the concept of popular sovereignty, which stated that the population of each new U.S. state should be allowed to decide if it allowed slavery, was an attempt by Southerners to gain power. When the Kansas–Nebraska Act threatened to extend popular sovereignty into the new Kansas Territory, Eli Thayer, a second-term Congressman from Massachusetts, hatched the idea of an Emigrant Aid Company in the winter of 1853–1854. His primary partners in the venture were Alexander H. Bullock and Edward Everett Hale, and together, they set Thayer's plans in motion on March 5, 1854. Thayer announced the Company at a rally against the impending passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act in Worcester on March 11. Shortly thereafter, the Company's charter was approved by the Massachusetts Legislature for up to $5,000,000 in capital.Officially, the Company was a profit-making venture, and how the settlers voted was of no consequence to the company. For example, the company secretary, Thomas Webb released a pamphlet in 1855 stating that although the settlers sent to the territories would not be required to vote for one side or the other, they were expected to support the free-state movement. A number of abolitionists questioned the profit motive behind the company, and even many of Thayer's potential investors balked at the notion \"that people might say we were influenced by pecuniary considerations in our patriotic work.\" Although Thayer personally disagreed with such hesitations, in 1855 the Company reorganized as a benevolent society and changed its name to the New England Emigrant Aid Company.\n\nReaction\nThe success of the endeavor prompted other aid assistance companies to form back East, in New York and Ohio, with new companies such as the Worcester County Emigrant Aid Society.\n\nImpact\nThe company was directly responsible for creating the Kansas towns of Lawrence and Manhattan, and it played a key role in founding Topeka and Osawatomie. Lawrence was named after the Company secretary, Amos Adams Lawrence. Multiple politicians were found in the emigrants who left for Kansas, such as Daniel Read Anthony, Charles L. Robinson, Samuel C. Pomeroy, and Martin F. Conway, who would later be Kansas's first US Representative.\nThe exact number of people who left for Kansas is unknown. James Rawley puts the numbers somewhere around 2000, about a third of whom returned home, but the Kansas Historical Society puts the number at around 900 for those who left for Kansas in 1855 alone.The Company's mission was ultimately successful, and Kansas entered the United States as a free state in 1861.\n\nNotes",
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      "question": "Where is the company that created Doravirine ( from?"
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