Merck, Schering-Plough shareholders OK $41B deal

TRENTON, N.J. -- Merck and Schering-Plough already are partners on the blockbuster cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia. The marriage will unite Merck's asthma and allergy treatment Singulair and cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil with Schering-Plough's allergy spray Nasonex and well-known consumer products including the Coppertone sun care line and Dr. Scholl's foot care items.

Buying No. 18 drugmaker Schering-Plough also boosts Merck's sagging pipeline of drugs in development, gives it a sizable biotech unit and creates a dominant player in vaccines as well as cholesterol, respiratory and women's drugs. And it allows the new company to slash costs — including roughly 15,000 jobs — to maintain profits as the industry deals with increasing generic competition and the unknown impact of health care reform.

Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose said 99.6% of the votes cast by Merck stockholders, or about 1.4 billion shares, supported the $41.1 billion purchase of Schering-Plough. The vote came at a special shareholders meeting Friday morning near Merck's headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J. Hours later, Schering-Plough stockholders approved the deal almost unanimously, with about 99.1% of votes cast, or about 1.26 billion shares, supporting the deal.

The two companies still need approval from the regulators in the United States and other countries. They plan to close the deal in the fourth quarter.

The deal is structured as a reverse merger, meaning Kenilworth, N.J.-based Schering-Plough is technically the surviving company but will operate under Merck's better-known name.