TRENTON, N.J. — Two federal agencies are probing drugmaker Merck & Co. for possibly violating anti-bribery laws in multiple foreign countries.

Merck, the world’s second-biggest drugmaker by revenue, has received inquiry letters from both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The letters ‘seek information about activities in a number of countries and reference the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,’ according to Merck.

The act bars U.S. companies from bribing government or corporate officials in other countries to win business, among other things.

Merck, which is based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., disclosed the investigation in a regulatory filing submitted to the SEC on Friday.

‘The company is cooperating with the agencies in their requests and believes that this inquiry is part of a broader review of pharmaceutical industry practices in foreign countries,’ Merck said in a brief statement included in its quarterly financial filing with the SEC.

Merck and most other large pharmaceutical companies for the past couple years have been hotly pursuing sales in emerging markets including China, Russia, India and Brazil. Government health programs in such countries often control the prices allowed for prescription drugs and decide which brands they will buy for millions of […]