Merck had spent many years developing a drug to combat a variety of diseases in farm animals. After Merck began selling the drug for use as a veterinary medicine, a scientist at the company discovered that it might also be extremely effective in fighting river blindness, a human disease that plagued millions in the Third World. Vagelos knew that developing the drug for human use would be time consuming, expensive and risky; he also knew that virtually none of the communities afflicted with river blindness would be able to afford to buy the drug. Vagelos nonetheless instructed Merck to proceed with the research. His decision would lead to the Mectizan Donation Program (MDP), which has overseen the donation of more than 1 billion treatments to more than 117,000 communities in 28 countries in Africa, six countries in Latin America, and in Yemen. The program has served as a model for corporate social responsibility ever since.

This is the first of four lectures of the HSBC student series on ethics and accountability: Bringing today's ethical challenges to tomorrow's business leaders.