GENEVA, November 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Merck Serono, a division of Merck, Darmstadt, Germany, announced today it now ranks eighth in the Access to Medicine Index published today by the Access to Medicine Foundation. Mercks access to medicine activities are conducted through its pharmaceuticals division, Merck Serono, and integrated into the companys Corporate Responsibility strategy. Merck Serono has moved up nine places compared to the 2010 ranking. Every two years, the Access to Medicine Index benchmarks twenty pharmaceutical companies on the different activities and initiatives in promoting access to medicines in low and middle income countries.

Merck Serono "has moved up to eighth place in this years Index largely because it has provided more information about its tiered pricing, management strategy and single-drug donation programs, " the Access to Medicine Foundation cited as reason why Merck Serono has moved up nine places.

"Today, our efforts have been well recognized by the Index and serve as a measuring tool to monitor Merck Seronos overall progress in the access to medicine field. We are committed to pursuing and further developing our Access to Health activities in the future to achieve sustainable health solutions to all, " said Stefan Oschmann, Chief Executive Officer of Merck Serono and Member of the Executive Board of Merck.

The Access to Health initiative at Merck Serono was launched in February 2011 and has identified access gaps and opportunities to better meet the needs of underserved patients. Merck Seronos Access to Health initiative aims at bringing added value to the community at large, and is becoming an integral part of how Merck Serono conducts business in a responsible, sustainable manner. Merck Serono recognizes the complexity of bringing health solutions to the poor and understands that the Access to Medicine Index objectives cannot be reached by the pharmaceutical industry alone. Complementarity, synergy and partnership among the different actors in health are needed to achieve a long-term impact and sustainable results.

Compared to 2010, Merck Serono has today been recognized by the Access to Medicines Foundation in particular for several topics such as:

About Acces to Medicine Foundation

The Access to Medicine Foundation is an international not for profit organization stimulating pharmaceutical companies to improve access to medicine to societies in need. Based in Haarlem, the Netherlands, the Foundation publishes the Access to Medicine Index, the first Index of its kind to rank pharmaceutical companies with respect to their efforts to enhance global access to medicine.

The Foundation aims to advance access to medicine in developing countries by encouraging the pharmaceutical industry to accept a greater role towards improving access to medicine in less developed countries. Please find more information here: http://www.accesstomedicineindex.org

About the Access to Medicine Index

Link:

Merck Serono Advances to Eighth Place in the 2012 Access to Medicine Index