U.S. healthcare company · mega-cap · listed on the NYSE · headquartered in New Jersey.
Clue 2 · The Numbers
Annual revenue around $60 billion, with an R&D budget that rivals the GDP of a small nation — over $13 billion a year spent hunting for the next blockbuster drug.
Clue 3 · The History
Traces its American roots to 1891, when a German chemist set up a chemical shop in New York; its parent company was actually seized as enemy property during World War I.
Clue 4 · The Secret
It spun off its consumer health brands into a separate company in 2021, doubling down on prescription drugs and vaccines as its entire reason for being.
Clue 5 · The Lore
Its antiviral pill Lagevrio and its cancer immunotherapy rival made it a household name during two of the biggest medical crises in recent memory — one viral, one oncological.
Clue 6 · The Giveaway
The maker of Keytruda — the world's best-selling cancer drug — and the HPV vaccine Gardasil, this pharma giant shares a name with a German company it hasn't been related to in over a century.