Research Paper on:
Analysis of Case Study: Merck Corporation and the Cure for River Blindness

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physician by the name of Roy Vegelos who is also the president of the firm. The case relays the fact that Vegelos tried to secure funding from the government of  the United States, France and from the private sector but could not. It is explained in the context the case that orphan drugs are those that do not have much  potential for profit. They may for example be targeting a small group or a disease that few people have but for which a cure may be found. Yet, Merck would  sometimes take up a cause that is unpopular and in the case of River Blindness, it is a disease that only affects some Asian and African groups. One substance discovered  in the course of research was something called Mectizan, but it was regarded as a failure, at least at first. One scientist decided to use half a million dollars  of company funds to research it further. Animal testing for the drug which was at some point thought to be vialbe, seemed difficult. It was voted that human testing, on  a volunteer basis should be initiated. Although testing of this new drug was successful, the governments who could fund the effort refused to contribute financially and so Merck continued  to kick in more and more money. In summary, according to the case study, this is what occurred: " Members of the Board of Directors at Merck were faced with  the possibility that the orphan drug Mectizan that their company had developed and tested at a cost that the company had absorbed of somewhat over $100 million would not be  made available to the estimated 18 million people who needed it very badly. They voted an additional $100 million per year to ensure its distribution and use." For this generous