This profile is a brief introduction for people seeking employment in pharmaceutical graduate jobs, pharmaceutical nurse advisors, pharmaceutical sales jobs, pharmaceutical training jobs, pharmaceutical sales management jobs, pharmaceutical marketing jobs, pharmaceutical executive jobs, or pharmaceutical clinical research associates who may be considering working for Merck Serono.
Company Overview
Merck Group
The Merck Group is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company. In 2005, Merck Group sales totalled 5,870 million. Adjusted for the disposal of VWR in the second quarter of 2004, this represents an increase of 9.9% over 2004. We increased our research and development spending, which has already been substantial for a number of years, by 19% to 713 million. The operating result rose by a favorable 14% to 883 million; return on sales (ROS) was 15.0% and return on capital employed (ROCE) reached a notable 20.5%.

Pharmaceuticals
Our Pharmaceuticals business sector comprises not only patented drugs, but also generics and consumer health care products. Sales increased by 13% to 3,894 million and the operating result rose 16% to 454 million. Research and development spending grew 18% to 579 million. In the Ethicals division, we invested 442 million or 26% of the division's sales in R&D, focusing on our development compounds for oncology.