R&B LEGEND NATALIE COLE JOINS ROCK LEGEND GREGG ALLMAN, MERCK AND THE AMERICAN LIVER FOUNDATION TO TURN UP THE VOLUME AROUND HEP C

Cole to Perform with The Allman Brothers Band at the Tune In to Hep C Benefit Concert Tomorrow on the Eve of World Hepatitis Day

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., July 26, 2011 – Merck (NYSE: MRK) (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) today announced that GRAMMY® winner Natalie Cole is adding her voice to the company’s public health campaign, Tune In to Hep C, with the American Liver Foundation (ALF) and rock legend Gregg Allman. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Cole will join Allman onstage at a benefit concert featuring The Allman Brothers Band and other special guests in New York tomorrow, July 27, the eve of World Hepatitis Day.

This cause is personal to Cole, who was diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C during a routine blood test in 2008. It was then that she realized she’d been living with the virus for more than 25 years – nearly half of her life. Cole's experience is not uncommon. In fact, chronic hepatitis C is often referred to as the silent disease because – for many people – it can be in the body for decades without any symptoms . Cole is joining the campaign to encourage others with chronic hepatitis C to put aside fear and stigma and take action.