Who Owns Gardasil?

• Parent Company: Merck & Co.
• Ownership Type: Brand division
• Company Type: Publicly Traded
• Stock Ticker: NYSE: MRK

• Founded: 1668
• Headquarters: Rahway, New Jersey, USA
• Company Type: Publicly Traded
• Stock: NYSE: MRK
• Revenue: approximately $63.6 billion (FY2024)
• Employees: Approximately 72,000

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• Headquarters: Rahway, New Jersey, USA
• Manufacturing / Operations: United States, Belgium, Germany, Ireland

Gardasil operates under Merck & Co.'s comprehensive sustainability framework, which addresses environmental responsibility, ethical business practices, and global health access. As a flagship preventive health product, Gardasil's sustainability efforts focus on manufacturing efficiency, environmental stewardship, and expanding global vaccine access.

Environmental Sustainability: Merck has committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across all operations (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) by 2045, aligned with Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) guidelines. The company aims to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 from 2019 baseline levels and source 100% of purchased electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Gardasil manufacturing facilities participate in these corporate environmental initiatives through energy efficiency improvements, water conservation programs, and waste reduction efforts targeting zero waste to landfills by 2025.

Water Conservation: Water is a critical input for vaccine manufacturing, and Merck employs various technologies to reduce water footprint across its production network. The company maintains water risk assessments as standard practice and implements water conservation techniques aimed at reducing consumption to 2015 levels or below by 2025. Gardasil production facilities utilize advanced water recycling systems and efficient cooling technologies to minimize environmental impact while maintaining vaccine quality and safety standards.

Waste Diversion and Circular Economy: Merck continuously evaluates waste disposal methods across its manufacturing sites to identify environmental risks and improvement opportunities. Gardasil production benefits from these comprehensive waste management programs, with targets including eliminating waste sent to landfills and incinerators without energy recovery by 2025. The company implements waste segregation, recycling programs, and packaging optimization to reduce environmental footprint throughout the vaccine production lifecycle.

Global Health Access: A cornerstone of Gardasil's sustainability mission involves expanding access to HPV vaccination in low- and middle-income countries. Merck partners with organizations including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF to provide millions of Gardasil doses at significantly reduced prices to countries with high cervical cancer burdens. This global health access initiative demonstrates Merck's commitment to health equity while addressing the World Health Organization's goals for cervical cancer elimination through sustainable vaccination programs.

Manufacturing Scale and Resilience: Recognizing global vaccine supply challenges in the early 2020s, Merck invested substantially in expanding Gardasil manufacturing capacity, opening new production facilities to ensure sustainable global supply chains. This manufacturing expansion supports both routine immunization programs and catch-up vaccination campaigns while building resilience against future supply disruptions. The expanded manufacturing network incorporates environmental best practices and energy-efficient technologies to minimize environmental impact while meeting growing global demand.