Merck has entered into collaborative arrangements that provide the Company with varying rights to develop, produce and market products together with its collaborative partners. Both parties in these arrangements are active participants and exposed to significant risks and rewards dependent on the commercial success of the activities of the collaboration. Merck’s more significant collaborative arrangements are discussed below.

In 2017, Merck and AstraZeneca PLC (AstraZeneca) entered into a global strategic oncology collaboration to co-develop and co-commercialize AstraZeneca’s Lynparza (olaparib) for multiple cancer types. Independently, Merck and AstraZeneca will develop and commercialize Lynparza in combinations with their respective PD-1 and PD-L1 medicines, Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and Imfinzi. The companies are also jointly developing and commercializing AstraZeneca’s Koselugo (selumetinib) for multiple indications. Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca and Merck will share the development and commercialization costs for Lynparza and Koselugo monotherapy and non-PD-L1/PD-1 combination therapy opportunities.

Profits from Lynparza and Koselugo product sales generated through monotherapies or combination therapies are shared equally. AstraZeneca is the principal on Lynparza and Koselugo sales transactions. Merck records its share of Lynparza and Koselugo product sales, net of cost of sales and commercialization costs, as alliance revenue and its share of development costs associated with the collaboration as part of Research and development expenses. Reimbursements received from AstraZeneca for research and development expenses are recognized as reductions to Research and development costs.

As part of the agreement, Merck made an upfront payment to AstraZeneca and also made payments over a multi-year period for certain license options. In addition, the agreement provides for contingent payments from Merck to AstraZeneca related to the successful achievement of sales-based and regulatory milestones.

In the first quarter of 2022, Merck determined it was probable that sales of Lynparza in the future would trigger a $600 million sales-based milestone payment from Merck to AstraZeneca. Accordingly, Merck recorded a $600 million liability (which remained accrued at June 30, 2023) and a corresponding increase to the intangible asset related to Lynparza. Merck also recognized $250 million of cumulative amortization catch-up expense related to the recognition of this milestone in the first six months of 2022. Additionally, in the first six months of 2022, Merck made a sales-based milestone payment to AstraZeneca (which had been previously accrued for) of $400 million. Potential future sales-based milestone payments of $2.1 billion have not yet been accrued as they are not deemed by the Company to be probable at this time. In the first quarter of 2023, Merck made a regulatory milestone payment to AstraZeneca of $105 million (which had been previously accrued for). In the second quarter of 2023, Lynparza received a regulatory approval triggering a future milestone payment of up to $245 million from Merck to AstraZeneca. In 2022, Lynparza received regulatory approvals triggering capitalized milestone payments of $250 million from Merck to AstraZeneca (of which $175 million was paid in the first six months of 2022). Potential future regulatory milestone payments of $850 million remain under the agreement.

The intangible asset balance related to Lynparza (which includes capitalized sales-based and regulatory milestone payments) was $1.7 billion at June 30, 2023 and is included in Other Intangibles, Net. The amount is being amortized over its estimated useful life through 2028 as supported by projected future cash flows, subject to impairment testing.


	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
($ in millions)	2023		2022		2023		2022
Alliance revenue - Lynparza	$	310	$	275	$	585	$	541
Alliance revenue - Koselugo	25		24		48		33
Total alliance revenue	$	335	$	299	$	633	$	574

Cost of sales (1)	78		62		148		361
Selling, general and administrative	51		46		98		90
Research and development	22		25		43		51

($ in millions)					June 30, 2023		December 31, 2022
Receivables from AstraZeneca included in Other current assets					$	332	$	303
Payables to AstraZeneca included in Accrued and other current liabilities (2)					260		123
Payables to AstraZeneca included in Other Noncurrent Liabilities (2)					600		600

In 2018, Merck and Eisai Co., Ltd. (Eisai) announced a strategic collaboration for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of Lenvima (lenvatinib), an orally available tyrosine kinase inhibitor discovered by Eisai. Under the agreement, Merck and Eisai will develop and commercialize Lenvima jointly, both as monotherapy and in combination with Keytruda. Eisai records Lenvima product sales globally (Eisai is the principal on Lenvima sales transactions) and Merck and Eisai share applicable profits equally. Merck records its share of Lenvima product sales, net of cost of sales and commercialization costs, as alliance revenue. Expenses incurred during co-development are shared by the two companies in accordance with the collaboration agreement and reflected in Research and development expenses. Certain expenses incurred solely by Merck or Eisai are not shareable under the collaboration agreement, including costs incurred in excess of agreed upon caps and costs related to certain combination studies of Keytruda and Lenvima.

Under the agreement, Merck made an upfront payment to Eisai and also made payments over a multi-year period for certain option rights. In addition, the agreement provides for contingent payments from Merck to Eisai related to the successful achievement of sales-based and regulatory milestones.

In the first quarter of 2023, Merck determined it was probable that sales of Lenvima in the future would trigger a $125 million sales-based milestone payment from Merck to Eisai. Accordingly, Merck recorded a $125 million liability and a corresponding increase to the intangible asset related to Lenvima. Merck also recognized $72 million of cumulative amortization catch-up expense related to the recognition of this milestone in the first six months of 2023. The Company made this sales-based milestone payment to Eisai in the second quarter of 2023. In the first six months of 2022, Merck made sales-based milestone payments to Eisai (which had been previously accrued for) aggregating $600 million. Potential future sales-based milestone payments of $2.4 billion have not yet been accrued as they are not deemed by the Company to be probable at this time. In 2022, Lenvima received regulatory approvals triggering capitalized milestone payments of $50 million from Merck to Eisai (of which $25 million was paid in the first six months of 2022). There are no regulatory milestone payments remaining under the agreement.

The intangible asset balance related to Lenvima (which includes capitalized sales-based and regulatory milestone payments) was $756 million at June 30, 2023 and is included in Other Intangibles, Net. The amount is being amortized over its estimated useful life through 2026 as supported by projected future cash flows, subject to impairment testing.


	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
($ in millions)	2023		2022		2023		2022
Alliance revenue - Lenvima	$	242	$	231	$	474	$	459

Cost of sales (1)	57		53		183		106
Selling, general and administrative	48		42		99		73
Research and development	17		47		56		104

($ in millions)					June 30, 2023		December 31, 2022
Receivables from Eisai included in Other current assets					$	242	$	214

In 2014, the Company entered into a worldwide clinical development collaboration with Bayer AG (Bayer) to market and develop soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) modulators including Bayer’s Adempas (riociguat). The two companies have implemented a joint development and commercialization strategy. The collaboration also includes development of Bayer’s Verquvo (vericiguat), which was approved in the U.S., the European Union (EU) and Japan in 2021, and has since been approved in several other markets. Under the agreement, Bayer commercializes Adempas in the Americas, while Merck commercializes in the rest of the world. For Verquvo, Merck commercializes in the U.S. and Bayer commercializes in the rest of the world. Both companies share in development costs and profits on sales. Merck records sales of Adempas and Verquvo in its marketing territories, as well as alliance revenue. Alliance revenue represents Merck’s share of profits from sales of Adempas and Verquvo in Bayer’s marketing territories, which are product sales net of cost of sales and commercialization costs. Cost of sales includes Bayer’s share of profits from sales in Merck’s marketing territories.

The intangible asset balances related to Adempas (which includes the acquired intangible asset balance, as well as capitalized sales-based milestone payments attributed to Adempas) and Verquvo (which reflects the portion of the final sales-based milestone payment that was attributed to Verquvo) were $586 million and $55 million, respectively, at June 30, 2023 and are included in Other Intangibles, Net. The assets are being amortized over their estimated useful lives (through 2027 for Adempas and through 2031 for Verquvo) as supported by projected future cash flows, subject to impairment testing.


	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
($ in millions)	2023		2022		2023		2022
Alliance revenue - Adempas/Verquvo	$	68	$	98	$	167	$	170
Net sales of Adempas recorded by Merck	65		63		125		124
Net sales of Verquvo recorded by Merck	9		6		16		9
Total sales	$	142	$	167	$	308	$	303

Cost of sales (1)	56		54		113		103
Selling, general and administrative	34		42		67		65
Research and development	25		17		50		34

($ in millions)					June 30, 2023		December 31, 2022
Receivables from Bayer included in Other current assets					$	144	$	143
Payables to Bayer included in Accrued and other current liabilities					82		80

In 2020, Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP (Ridgeback), a closely held biotechnology company, entered into a collaboration agreement to develop Lagevrio (molnupiravir), an investigational orally available antiviral candidate for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Merck gained exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize Lagevrio and related molecules. Following initial authorizations in certain markets in the fourth quarter of 2021, Lagevrio has since received multiple additional authorizations worldwide.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ridgeback received an upfront payment and is eligible to receive future contingent payments dependent upon the achievement of certain developmental and regulatory approval milestones. The agreement also provides for Merck to reimburse Ridgeback for a portion of certain third-party contingent milestone payments and royalties on net sales, which is part of the profit-sharing calculation. Merck is the principal on sales transactions, recognizing sales and related costs, with profit-sharing amounts recorded within Cost of sales. Profits from the collaboration are split equally between the partners. Reimbursements from Ridgeback for its share of research and development costs (deducted from Ridgeback’s share of profits) are reflected as decreases to Research and development expenses.


	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
($ in millions)	2023		2022		2023		2022
Net sales of Lagevrio recorded by Merck	$	203	$	1,177	$	595	$	4,424

Cost of sales (1)(2)	193		615		414		2,341
Selling, general and administrative (2)	24		34		51		69
Research and development (2)	10		30		26		56

($ in millions)					June 30, 2023		December 31, 2022
Receivables from Ridgeback included in Other current assets (3)					$	51	$	—
Payables to Ridgeback included in Accrued and other current liabilities (4)					30		348

Reblozyl (luspatercept-aamt) is a first-in-class erythroid maturation recombinant fusion protein that is being commercialized through a global collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS). Reblozyl is approved in the U.S., Europe and certain other markets for the treatment of anemia in certain rare blood disorders and is also being evaluated for additional indications for hematology therapies. BMS is the principal on sales transactions for Reblozyl; however, Merck co-promotes Reblozyl (and will co-promote all future products approved under this collaboration) in North America, which is reimbursed by BMS. Merck receives a 20% sales royalty from BMS which could increase to a maximum of 24% based on sales levels. This royalty will be reduced by 50% upon the earlier of patent expiry or generic entry on an indication-by-indication basis in each market. Additionally, Merck is eligible to receive future contingent sales-based milestone payments of up to $80 million. Alliance revenue related to this collaboration (recorded within Sales) consists of royalties and, for the first six months of 2022, also includes the receipt of a regulatory approval milestone payment of $20 million. Merck recorded alliance revenue related to this collaboration of $47 million and $90 million in the second quarter and first six months of 2023, respectively, compared with $33 million and $86 million in the second quarter and first six months of 2022, respectively.