Acquisitions, Research Collaborations and License Agreements	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Business Combinations [Abstract]
Acquisitions, Research Collaborations and License Agreements	Acquisitions, Research Collaborations and License Agreements The Company continues to pursue acquisitions and the establishment of external alliances such as research collaborations and licensing agreements to complement its internal research capabilities. These arrangements often include upfront payments, as well as expense reimbursements or payments to the third party, and milestone, royalty or profit share arrangements, contingent upon the occurrence of certain future events linked to the success of the asset in development. The Company also reviews its marketed products and pipeline to examine candidates which may provide more value through out-licensing and, as part of its portfolio assessment process, may also divest certain assets. Pro forma financial information for acquired businesses is not presented if the historical financial results of the acquired entity are not significant when compared with the Company’s financial results. In April 2019, Merck acquired Antelliq Corporation (Antelliq) from funds advised by BC Partners. Antelliq is a leader in digital animal identification, traceability and monitoring solutions. These solutions help veterinarians, farmers and pet owners gather critical data to improve management, health and well-being of livestock and pets. Merck paid $2.3 billion to acquire all outstanding shares of Antelliq and spent $1.3 billion to repay Antelliq’s debt. The transaction will be accounted for as an acquisition of a business. The Company is in the process of determining the preliminary fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed for this transaction. In April 2019, Merck acquired Immune Design, a late-stage immunotherapy company employing next-generation in vivo approaches to enable the body’s immune system to fight disease, for $301 million in cash. Immune Design’s proprietary technologies, GLAAS and ZVex, are engineered to activate the immune system’s natural ability to generate and/or expand antigen-specific cytotoxic immune cells to fight cancer and other chronic diseases. The transaction will be accounted for as an acquisition of a business. The Company is in the process of determining the preliminary fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed for this transaction. In March 2018, Merck and Eisai Co., Ltd. (Eisai) entered into a strategic collaboration for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of Lenvima, an orally available tyrosine kinase inhibitor discovered by Eisai (see Note 3).

Acquisitions, Research Collaborations and License Agreements

The Company continues to pursue acquisitions and the establishment of external alliances such as research collaborations and licensing agreements to complement its internal research capabilities. These arrangements often include upfront payments, as well as expense reimbursements or payments to the third party, and milestone, royalty or profit share arrangements, contingent upon the occurrence of certain future events linked to the success of the asset in development. The Company also reviews its marketed products and pipeline to examine candidates which may provide more value through out-licensing and, as part of its portfolio assessment process, may also divest certain assets. Pro forma financial information for acquired businesses is not presented if the historical financial results of the acquired entity are not significant when compared with the Company’s financial results.

In April 2019, Merck acquired Antelliq Corporation (Antelliq) from funds advised by BC Partners. Antelliq is a leader in digital animal identification, traceability and monitoring solutions. These solutions help veterinarians, farmers and pet owners gather critical data to improve management, health and well-being of livestock and pets. Merck paid $2.3 billion to acquire all outstanding shares of Antelliq and spent $1.3 billion to repay Antelliq’s debt. The transaction will be accounted for as an acquisition of a business. The Company is in the process of determining the preliminary fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed for this transaction.

In April 2019, Merck acquired Immune Design, a late-stage immunotherapy company employing next-generation in vivo approaches to enable the body’s immune system to fight disease, for $301 million in cash. Immune Design’s proprietary technologies, GLAAS and ZVex, are engineered to activate the immune system’s natural ability to generate and/or expand antigen-specific cytotoxic immune cells to fight cancer and other chronic diseases. The transaction will be accounted for as an acquisition of a business. The Company is in the process of determining the preliminary fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed for this transaction.

In March 2018, Merck and Eisai Co., Ltd. (Eisai) entered into a strategic collaboration for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of Lenvima, an orally available tyrosine kinase inhibitor discovered by Eisai (see Note 3).