Richardson-Merrell

Richardson-Merrell was a major American pharmaceutical and consumer products company, perhaps best known for its Vicks brand and its Merrell pharmaceutical division. Formed from the Vick Chemical Company in 1960, it became a central figure in 20th-century pharmacology through products like the morning sickness drug Bendectin and the fertility drug Clomid. The company is also historically noted for its role in the thalidomide controversy, as its Merrell division sought FDA approval for the drug in the early 1960s. In 1981, the company divested its ethical pharmaceutical business to Dow Chemical, forming Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, while the remaining consumer business, Richardson-Vicks, was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1985. This transition marked the end of Richardson-Merrell as a standalone entity in the life sciences sector.