--- description: Two of the nation's biggest drug manufacturers last week agreed to become the biggest. Directors of Merck & Co., which grossed $105.7 million and netted $8.4 million last year, and Sharp... title: CORPORATIONS: Merck's Merger image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) # CORPORATIONS: Merck's Merger by [TIME](/author/time/) Mar 16, 1953 5:00 AM CUT by [TIME](/author/time/) Mar 16, 1953 5:00 AM CUT Two of the nation’s biggest drug manufacturers last week agreed to become the biggest. Directors of Merck & Co., which grossed $105.7 million and netted $8.4 million last year, and Sharp & Dohme, which netted $3.9 million on a $50.4 million gross, okayed a plan to merge. If stockholders approve, the combined company will pass Parke, Davis & Co. as the biggest U.S. maker of ethical drugs.\* The firm would take the Merck name, but Sharp & Dohme would continue to operate as a separate unit. Sharpe & Dohme shareholders seemed to be getting the best of it. They would get 2¼ shares of Merck common, worth 49½ at week’s end, for every share of Sharp & Dohme, listed at 47¾. \*A term used to describe drugs which usually require a doctor’s prescription, as distinguished from proprietary drugs, such as cough remedies patent medicines, toothpaste, etc., which are sold over the counter. CORPORATIONS: Merck's Merger ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6868965/corporations-mercks-merger/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6868965/corporations-mercks-merger/"},"headline":"CORPORATIONS: Merck's Merger","datePublished":"1953-03-16T05:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-13T20:53:47.437Z","description":"Two of the nation's biggest drug manufacturers last week agreed to become the biggest. Directors of Merck & Co., which grossed $105.7 million and netted $8.4 million last year, and Sharp...","url":"https://time.com/archive/6868965/corporations-mercks-merger/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME","url":"https://time.com/author/time/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/6868965/corporations-mercks-merger/","name":"CORPORATIONS: Merck's Merger"}}]}] ```