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FOR News IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Chris Loder [phone]
The Merck Company Foundation Announces More Than $7 Million in Grants to Support Pharmaceutical Policy Research Worldwide Awards Will Benefit Academic Centers in Africa, Australia, Japan, Central America, Europe and the United States
WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., Jan. 11, 2006 The Merck Company Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck & Co., Inc., announced today that it has selected 12 academic institutions throughout the world to receive more than $7 million in grants through its Program on Pharmaceutical Policy Issues (PPPI). Established in 1999, the PPPI is designed to help academic institutions conduct independent research in pharmaceutical and health policy issues. The goal is to enhance pharmaceutical policy research and build a strong foundation for more informed public policy on health care issues.
We believe that academe plays a critical role in helping to inform public policy and shape health
care systems around the world, said David A. Ruth, executive vice president, The Merck Company Foundation. The PPPI is one vehicle through which Merck is pleased to build academic capacity and support the advancement of research and understanding in health policy and pharmaceutical policy. The grants will support academic centers in Australia, Costa Rica, Italy, Japan, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each center will receive approximately $600,000 over three years (2006-2008) to strengthen policy research, teaching and dissemination capacity. The grant recipients are: University of Chicago Columbia/Stanford Consortium on Medical Innovation Cornell University University of Costa Rica University of Occupational and Environmental Health (Japan)* University of Florence and Institutions Markets Technologies, Lucca Institute for Advanced Studies (Italy)
* Funding to support this institution is provided by Merck & Co., Inc.
University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom) Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of Pennsylvania (The Wharton School of Business) Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and Universidad Carlos III in Madrid (the Spanish Consortium) Victoria University (Australia)
The new grants will support policy research and scholarship on such issues as: (1) competition in the industry; pharmaceutical (2) factors contributing to pharmaceutical innovation; (3) social, political and economic factors leading to health system change; (4) health technology assessment and other policies that inform pharmaceutical coverage and reimbursement decisions; (5) patient-centered models of care; and (6) overcoming barriers to access to medicines in the developing world. Since the PPPIs inception, The Merck Company Foundation has provided more than $10 million in support, including $9.5 million in grants, through the PPPI toward research on topics including access to medicines, health care resource allocation, incentives for innovation, health care and pharmaceutical reimbursement, comparative perspectives on health system reform, and the economics of the pharmaceutical industry. For additional information about the PPPI and the research conducted by past and current grantees, visit Mercks Corporate Responsibility Web site at: www.merck.com/cr/pppi.html.
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The Merck Company Foundation The Merck Company Foundation is an U.S.-based, private, charitable foundation. Established in 1957 by Merck & Co., Inc., the Foundation is funded entirely by the Company and is Merck's chief source of funding support to qualified non-profit, charitable organizations. The mission of the Foundation is to support initiatives and organizations that: expand access to medicines and healthcare; build capacity in the biomedical and h...