Call for proposals to support innovation in special health areas

Call for proposals to support innovation in special health areas is sponsored by Merck. This call supports innovative research projects in specific health areas including in-vitro models for neuroinflammatory diseases, AI in cell culture media, economical remediation of contaminated materials, and condensate-based screening assays for protein-protein interactions.

Solutions for Healthy Communities - Merck. com Solutions for Healthy Communities Solutions for Healthy Communities (SHC) is our global grants program focused on investing in innovative solutions to advance equitable access to health around the world. Jump to application FAQs.

SHC: grounded in the power of communities Our company has made a public commitment to advance access to health care for people in low- and middle-income countries and for underserved populations in high-income countries. As part of that access to health commitment, we launched SHC in 2023 to catalyze innovation in community-led solutions that build capacity and generate sustainable, scalable impact.

Read about our new grants to help improve global access to care . SHC is grounded in the belief that local organizations know their communities best and are uniquely positioned to create meaningful, lasting change in the regions where they work.

How SHC drives access to health Empowering people and communities with health knowledge Designing, testing, and/or implementing models of care Building capacity of health workers Strengthening health systems and sustainability We select grantee organizations whose work aligns with our company’s Access to Health commitment. Enabling access to a safe and healthy future is core to our purpose of saving and improving lives around the world.

SHC intentionally recognizes and invests in community expertise, supporting innovative, community-led solutions that address local priorities. View our guidelines . Learn more in our FAQs below.

Our second SHC cohort is comprised of 32 projects as listed below. Selection prioritized projects that drive measurable improvements in closing gaps in care in communities where our company operates and that integrate local health expertise and community leadership into project design and implementation. Over two years, these projects will strengthen health systems and support scalable, community-driven solutions, funded by an $8.

5 million grant pool.

United States (including Puerto Rico) Community Volunteers in Medicine Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services New England Medical Association The Foundation for Delaware County Trenton Health Team, Inc. VOCES Coalicion de Vacunacion de PR Fondo de las Naciones Unidas Para la Infancia, Colombia Fundacion Peruana de Cancer, Peru Pro Mujer, Inc., Mexico and Argentina Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Hospital Albert Einstein, Brazil United Nations Population Fund, Dominican Republic Asociatia Coalitia Organizatiilor Pacientilor cu Afectiuni Cronice, Romania International Organization for Migration, Slovakia PHA Europe, European Pulmonary Hypertension Association, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and Bosnia-Herzegovina Social Innovation Wien, Austria Tunne rintasi ry, Finland Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa BIO Ventures for Global Health, Kenya and Nigeria Childhood Cancer Society of Ghana, Ghana Global Health Development GHD|EMPHNET, Iraq Population Services International, Ethiopia The Israeli Lung Cancer Foundation, Israel World Learning, Inc., Algeria Japan, China and Asia Pacific Access Health International, Inc., India Asia Dengue Voice and Action Ltd, Thailand and Philippines Institute of HIV Research and Innovation, Thailand Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia, Malaysia Youth Link Social Enterprise Company Limited, Vietnam Beebe Medical Center Inc. d/b/a Beebe Healthcare Blue Ridge Free Clinic, Inc. Comie En Union para Salvadorenos (CEUS) Health Promotion Council of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Inc. Massachusetts General Hospital Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation University of Nebraska Foundation HMH Hospitals Corporation Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Rahway Valley Youth House Committee, Inc. Fundación Mexicana Para la Salud, A.

C.

Foundation Center for Health Policies and Services Kilkenny Cancer Support Centre Ltd United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Serbia Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa Business for Health Solutions, International, Inc. The King Hussein Cancer Foundation Shel Bar – The Sarit Levy and Bracha Rosenberg z”l organization for Women’s Cancer (RA) Japan, China and Asia Pacific National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation Vishwanath Cancer Care Foundation Yayasan Jalin Komunikasi Indonesia (Jalin Foundation) Frequently asked questions What are the characteristics of a successful grant applicant?

Grant applicants must be consistent with the following: They seek to expand health care access via community-led solutions that reach historically underserved populations. They implement innovative solutions in their community to improve the reach and impact of health services. Those solutions should drive impact across therapeutic areas, including, but not limited to, oncology, vaccines, infectious disease or diabetes.

The SHC team recognizes that organizations know the health needs of their community best and, as such, will evaluate grant proposals based on the information communicated in the proposal. Who is eligible to apply for an SHC grant?

Eligible applicants are designated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, are within 50 miles of a Merck site and have program objectives that align with SHC’s goal to advance access to health care for historically underserved populations. How can my organization apply? Applications for the 2026-2027 SHC cohort opened January 13, 2025, and closed February 28, 2025.

Bookmark this page to find out when our next application period opens. How are applications evaluated?

Proposals are evaluated based on criteria, including, but not limited to, clarity of objectives and outcomes, demonstrated understanding of locally relevant barriers and opportunities to advance access to health care for specific underserved population groups, demonstrated capacity and capabilities to carry out proposed activities, anticipated reach and opportunities to leverage, scale and sustain efforts beyond this grant.

What is the term length of the grant? Cohort 2’s grants run from January 2026 through December 2027. This is a two-year funding commitment.

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, USA This website of Merck & Co. , Inc., Rahway, N. J.

, USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.

There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline candidates that the candidates will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site ( www. sec. gov ).

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