Producer
Merck Animal Health (MSD Animal Health)
Merck Animal Health (Madison NJ; division of Merck & Co.; ~$5.5B revenue) manufactures AviPro brand avian influenza and Newcastle disease vaccines for commercial poultry. Products sold as MSD Animal Health outside North America. Merck Animal Health is the third-largest animal health company globally. De Soto KS biologics manufacturing site.
5
Inputs supplied
4
Goods downstream
4
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
5 inputs Merck Animal Health (MSD Animal Health) supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
pharmaceutical
Swine Vaccines (PRRSV, PCV2, Mycoplasma) →
pharmaceutical
Aquaculture Vaccines (Salmon Lice and Bacterial) →
pharmaceutical
Marek's Disease Vaccine (MDV) →
pharmaceutical
Dairy Cow Veterinary Pharmaceuticals →
pharmaceutical
Poultry Biosecurity Inputs & HPAI Vaccines →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
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Where they make it
4 facilities
Merck Animal Health (MSD) Boxmeer Facility →
NLBoxmeer, North Brabant · pharmaceutical_plant
Merck/MSD Animal Health primary European production facility and the birthplace of CVI988/Rispens — the 'gold standard' MDV vaccine strain developed at the Central Veterinary Institute in the Netherlands and described by Rispens et al. in 1972. Produces RISMAVAC (frozen CVI988 Rispens, stored below -150°C) and INNOVAX recombinant HVT vector vaccines. The Netherlands' historical role in Rispens development means Boxmeer holds irreplaceable institutional knowledge for this critical vaccine strain.
Merck Animal Health - DeSoto, Kansas →
US$895M expansion announced 2025; commercial manufacturing begins 2030; fermentation, cell culture, blending, filling; primary global swine vaccine hub
Merck Animal Health - Elkhorn, Nebraska →
USProduction animals including swine, fish, cattle, poultry; secondary US site
Merck Animal Health De Soto KS Biologics →
USKansas · lab
Merck Animal Health biologics manufacturing at De Soto KS — primary US poultry and livestock vaccine production site for AviPro brand AI vaccines.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Poultry Vaccines & Biologics
35%Cattle & Livestock Vaccines
30%Companion Animal & Parasiticides
22%Aquaculture Vaccines
13%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2023
Merck Animal Health's RISMAVAC — the frozen CVI988/Rispens live virus vaccine for Marek's disease, stored below -150°C — is produced at the Boxmeer, Netherlands facility where the Rispens strain was originally developed in 1972. Merck the human pharmaceutical company also makes Varivax (varicella/chickenpox vaccine) and Zostavax (shingles vaccine) from the same family of herpesviruses in its human biologics divisions. Both a mandatory livestock vaccine and a standard childhood vaccine trace to the same company's herpesvirus manufacturing expertise — though produced by entirely separate divisions and regulatory frameworks.
Merck Animal Health ↗Origin2023
Merck Animal Health traces its origin to Sharp & Dohme's acquisition of the veterinary biologics company in the 1950s, which was absorbed when Merck & Sharp & Dohme merged in 1953. The animal health division grew from a small sideline into a ~$5.5 billion revenue business, driven by livestock intensification in the second half of the 20th century. The 2009 Merck-Schering-Plough merger added the MSD Animal Health brand and its Netherlands operations (including the Boxmeer facility where the Rispens Marek's vaccine strain was developed), making Merck one of the three dominant global poultry vaccine manufacturers.
Merck Animal Health ↗