What MSD Manuals does

MSD Manuals is a free digital medical information platform published by Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK), headquartered in Rahway, NJ, and in continuous operation since 1899. The platform operates three core products: a Professional Version for healthcare professionals and medical students, a Consumer Version for patients and caregivers, and the MSD Veterinary Manual. Content is authored and reviewed by 300+ independent academic physicians, a 26-member independent Editorial Board, 350+ academic physicians for the Professional edition, and 400+ veterinary experts across 20+ countries, with structural editorial independence guaranteed from Merck's commercial, research, and marketing functions.

The underlying platform is a cloud-based web service delivering text, videos, animations, 3D models, clinical calculators, quizzes, and interactive case simulations via a website, iOS/Android mobile apps, and an enterprise content licensing/API channel. All content is tagged with industry-standard medical codes (ICD-10-CM, SNOMED, MeSH) and is written for HL7 infobutton access, enabling direct integration into EHR clinical decision support workflows. Content is available in 13 languages across web and mobile; specialized sub-products include the MSD Manual Guide to Obstetrics.

The business model is dual-track. To end users, MSD Manuals is offered free, with no registration or subscription, positioning it as a public good within Merck's CSR mandate. To enterprise customers — app developers, web portals, EHR providers, and health IT systems — MSD Manuals monetizes through turnkey products (embeddable widgets, custom links), APIs, and custom configurable solutions for clinical decision support and patient education. The platform's stated geographic scope is global, with the mission of reaching every continent.

Name

MSD Manuals

Legal name

Merck & Co., Inc.

Website

https://msdmanuals.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1899

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

MSD Manuals is a free digital medical reference platform published by Merck & Co., serving healthcare professionals, students, patients, and veterinarians worldwide with authoritative content across 13 languages via web, mobile apps, and licensed APIs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Reference Resources

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical & Clinical Reference (Physicians, Nursing, Allied Health) (EDAGAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Terminology Services & Semantic Interoperability (SNOMED/LOINC/RxNorm mapping) (HLACABAJ), Clinical Decision Support & Workflow Automation (Protocols, Templates, AI Scribing) (HLAMAGAH)

Keywords

• Medical reference resources
• Clinical decision support
• Medical content licensing
• Veterinary reference content
• Healthcare information services

Headquarters

HQ city

Rahway

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Free Public Service Model: The Manuals are offered as a free public service to healthcare professionals and the general public. No registration or subscription is required. The company (Merck & Co., Inc.) provides this as a public good rather than a direct revenue generator.
2. Content Licensing and API Solutions: Licensing content to app developers, web portals, electronic health record providers, and health information technology systems. Provides turnkey products (custom links, embeddable widgets), APIs with industry-standard medical codes, and custom configurable solutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MSD Manuals publishes three free, continuously updated digital medical references — a Professional Version for clinicians and students, a Consumer Version for patients and caregivers, and a Veterinary Manual for animal-health professionals — covering thousands of topics with multimedia features across a website and mobile apps. Complementing the free public service, the organization licenses the same evidence-based, ICD-10-CM/SNOMED/MeSH-coded and HL7 infobutton-enabled content via APIs, turnkey widgets, and custom integrations to EHR vendors, app developers, web portals, and health information technology systems.

Product overview

MSD Manuals is a comprehensive medical information platform offering three core products: the Professional Version for healthcare professionals and students, the Consumer Version for patients and the general public, and the Veterinary Manual for veterinary professionals. All three are available as free web-based resources and mobile applications. The company also operates a B2B division providing content solutions through turnkey products, APIs, and custom integrations for healthcare IT systems, EHRs, and app developers. The platform is notable for being one of the world's most widely used medical references, first published in 1899 and now available in digital form in multiple languages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MSD Manual Professional Version: Detailed medical information for healthcare professionals and students covering all medical and surgical specialties.
• MSD Manual Consumer Version
• MSD Veterinary Manual
• MSD Manual Guide to Obstetrics

Products and services

• MSD Manual Professional Version A comprehensive, continuously updated web-based medical reference covering thousands of topics across all major medical and surgical specialties with how-to videos, clinical calculators, 3D models, quizzes, and news; intended for healthcare professionals and medical students.
• MSD Manual Consumer Version A free web-based medical reference written in clear, easy-to-understand language for the general public, patients, parents, and caregivers, covering thousands of topics with animations, photos, illustrations, self-assessment tools, and explanations of common medical tests.
• MSD Veterinary Manual The world's most widely used free veterinary reference covering thousands of topics across dozens of species for veterinarians, veterinary students, and animal health professionals, including videos, photos, reference guides, clinical calculators, and case studies.
• MSD Manual Professional Mobile App Native iOS and Android app delivering the Professional Version's clinical content offline, with photos, videos, drug reference, quizzes, interactive case simulations, and medical news; available in up to 8 languages.
• MSD Manual Consumer Mobile App Native iOS and Android app providing Consumer Version content offline, with photos, illustrations, videos, animations, quizzes, a drug information guide with interactions, a pill identifier, and self-assessments; available in up to 7 languages.
• MSD Veterinary Manual Mobile App Native iOS and Android app providing the Veterinary Manual content offline, covering thousands of topics with extensive image and video libraries, clinical calculators, and reference guides; available in up to 2 languages.
• MSD Manual Guide to Obstetrics Specialized iOS mobile app subset of the MSD Professional Manual available in the U.S. and Canada covering 99 topics and 14 videos on normal pregnancy, prenatal care, high-risk pregnancy, labor and delivery, postpartum care, newborn care including resuscitation, and family planning.
• MSDManuals.com Content Solution (B2B API and Licensing) Licensed content solution for app developers, web portals, EHR providers, and health IT systems, providing trusted, coded medical content via turnkey widgets, APIs, and configurable integrations; content is tagged with ICD-10-CM, SNOMED, and MeSH for immediate installation.
• Clinical Decision Support Solutions B2B delivery of MSD Manual physician-facing content via multiple formats including HL7 infobuttons, links, and embeddable widgets for integration into clinical systems and EHRs as clinical decision support.
• Patient-Education Solutions B2B delivery of Consumer Version medical content written for laypersons, patients, and caregivers, available for integration into health IT and EHR-based patient-facing experiences.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• App DeveloperscoreTechnology or IntegrationMSDManuals.com allows app developers to integrate trusted health information for consumers, healthcare professionals, and veterinarians into their mobile solutions through turnkey products, APIs, and custom configurations.
• Web PortalscoreTechnology or IntegrationMSDManuals.com provides content solutions enabling web portals to embed trusted medical references for their users through custom links or embeddable widgets.
• Electronic Health Record (EHR) ProviderscoreTechnology or IntegrationEHR providers can integrate MSD Manual content using industry-standard codes (ICD-10-CM, SNOMED) and infobutton access following HL7 standards for clinical decision support.
• Health Information Technology SystemscoreTechnology or IntegrationHealth IT systems can leverage cloud-based web services and APIs to deliver MSD Manual content with reduced processing time and increased response speed and uptime.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Epocrates: Epocrates (athenahealth) provides point-of-care drug reference and clinical content for healthcare professionals via mobile apps and EHR integration. Comparable to MSD Professional Version as both are mobile-first clinical reference tools with industry-standard code tagging.
• UpToDate: UpToDate (Wolters Kluwer) is the leading subscription-based clinical decision support and medical reference resource used by physicians and medical students. Directly comparable to MSD Manual Professional Version as both deliver evidence-based, peer-reviewed clinical content to clinicians.
• DynaMed: DynaMed (EBSCO) is a clinical reference tool providing evidence-based summaries for point-of-care use by clinicians. Directly comparable to MSD Manual Professional Version as both offer physician-authored, frequently updated clinical decision support content integrated into EHR systems.
• BMJ Best Practice: BMJ Best Practice is a clinical decision support tool combining the latest research with step-by-step guidance for diagnosis and treatment. Directly comparable to MSD Manual Professional Version as both deliver evidence-based medical reference content targeted at clinicians globally.
• Merck Manuals (US/Canada edition): Merck Manuals is the U.S./Canada-branded version of MSD Manuals, owned by Merck & Co., Inc. It is essentially the same product under a regional brand - directly comparable as they share editorial content, governance, and parent company.

Broad incumbents

• Medscape: Medscape (WebMD/Internet Brands) provides free medical reference, news, and clinical decision tools for physicians and consumers. Broad incumbent peer covering both professional and consumer health information audiences comparable to MSD Manuals' multi-version product strategy.
• Mayo Clinic Patient Care & Health Info: Mayo Clinic's patient-facing health information library delivers authoritative, physician-reviewed medical content to consumers. Comparable to MSD Consumer Version as both offer trusted, lay-friendly medical reference content for patients and caregivers.

Emerging players

• Osmosis (Elsevier): Osmosis (Elsevier) provides multimedia medical education content for students and healthcare professionals, with videos and clinical case simulations. Comparable to MSD Manuals' multimedia strategy and partnership with Elsevier for medical content, targeting overlapping clinician and student audiences.
• VisualDx: VisualDx is a clinical decision support system focused on image-based differential diagnosis, with image library and EHR integration. Comparable to MSD Manuals as a clinical reference and CDS provider with multimedia emphasis, though narrower specialty (dermatology/visual diagnosis).

Regional players

• MedlinePlus: MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine) is a government-run consumer health information portal providing authoritative, free medical content for patients. Comparable to MSD Consumer Version as both serve general public/patient health literacy, though MedlinePlus is U.S.-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MSDManualPro
• Facebookfacebook.com/MSDManual

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MSD Manuals