Merck, the pharmaceutical giant which has more than 10,000 employees in Montgomery County, is spinning off a new firm from its Women’s Health, trusted Legacy Brands, and Biosimilars businesses.

The newly created company has $6.5 billion in annual sales, which represents around 14 percent of Merck’s sales.

The separation will make it easier for both Merck and the yet-to-be-named, independent, publicly traded company.

It will better meet the needs of patients and customers and attain faster growth while attaining greater value for all stakeholders.

Following the separation, Merck will continue to benefit from strong growth across its current key pillars including Oncology, Vaccines, Hospital, and Animal Health.

The company will also remain committed to investing in research and development across all areas of science and to driving value from its deep late-stage pipeline.

“By optimizing our human health portfolio, Merck can move closer to its aspiration of being the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company, while also properly prioritizing a set of products at NewCo that are important to public health and the patients who rely on them, and which present real opportunities for growth,” said Kenneth C. Frazier, Merck chairman and chief executive officer.

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