| Industry | Animal healthcare |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 1, 1997 |
| Headquarters | Duluth, Georgia |
| Parent | Sanofi-Aventis |
| Website | www.merial.com |
Merial is a multinational animal health company. It was formed in August 1997 as a joint venture between the animal health subsidiaries of Merck & Co. (MSD AgVet) and Sanofi-Aventis (Rhône-Mérieux). Merial is now the animal health subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis. Merial is a company leader in innovation, and provides an ample range with products to improve the health, the well-being and the yield of the animal and poultry. Merial produces many products and vaccines to assure the well-being of domestic pets, farm animals and wildlife. Merial has about 5,600 employees and is present in more than 150 countries in the world. Their sales in 2010 were about 2.6 billion US$. Merial's global headquarters is located at Duluth, GA.
Some of Merial's most popular products are Frontline, Heartgard, Ivomec and Previcox.
In October 2009, Merial announced it was investing 70 million US$ at its poultry vaccines plant in Nanchang Hi-tech Development Zone, China.
On March 9, 2010, Sanofi-Aventis announced [1] it had exercised an option to combine Merial with Intervet/Schering Plough, the animal health business of Merck. The new joint venture will be equally owned by Merck and Sanofi-Aventis.
Merck and Sanofi-Aventis announced on March 22, 2011 the mutual termination of their agreement to form a new animal health joint venture.
Merial was investigated in connection with a 2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, after a strain of foot-and-mouth disease alleged to have been sourced from one of their research facilities was found at Pirbright, a farm in Surrey, England, in August 2007.[1] The investigators concluded that "release was most likely due to escape of live virus from the drainage system that connects the vaccine production plant to the sodium hydroxide treatment tanks on another part of the Pirbright site."[2]
The two independent inquiries found that Merial complied with all regulations and committed no breaches of biosecurity.