Shareholders of Merck, Schering-Plough to vote on combination, would create No. 2 drugmaker

Merck takeover of Schering-Plough up for vote

TRENTON, N.J. — Shareholders will decide Friday whether two New Jersey drug companies will become the world’s second-biggest drugmaker.

Merck & Co. shareholders will vote near its Whitehouse Station headquarters. Kenilworth-based Schering-Plough Corp. shareholders will meet in Boston.

Little turnout is expected because most of their shares are held by institutional investors, which voted in advance by proxy.

The $41.1 billion deal still needs regulatory approval.

The corporate marriage would unite Merck’s asthma and allergy treatment Singulair with Schering-Plough’s allergy spray Nasonex.