- Opens North America's first BioReliance® End-to-End Biodevelopment Center to help customers with biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes

- Accelerates clinical development from DNA to market

- "Advance Biotech Grant Program" expands global biotech commitment to help awardees accelerate process set-up with Merck services, expertise

DARMSTADT, Germany, June 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Merck, a leading science and technology company, today officially opened North America's first BioReliance^® End-to-End Biodevelopment Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, U.S.A., providing cell line development services, upstream and downstream process development and non-GMP clinical production for drug manufacturers.

"Merck is helping drug manufacturers, from small to large innovator companies, bring life-enhancing medicines and therapies to market — and to patients — faster," said Udit Batra, member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science. "Customers who partner with us benefit from Merck's full suite of capabilities, which includes access to the latest technologies and expertise of our global footprint."

Merck's new center provides hands-on experience and expert consultation at each stage of the biopharmaceutical development process and in manufacturing.

Biomanufacturing is a growing industry that is increasingly focused on optimized production and high quality. However, the drug development process is long and complex, and requires biotech companies to make significant financial investments. Merck's new end-to-end center is one of three worldwide supporting its biotech partners in developing their processes from early clinical stage to commercialization. Other centers are in Martillac, France, and Shanghai, China.

Merck has 31 years of process development experience and a track record of delivering robust clinical production processes and clinical material in nine to 12 months. The company has the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of products, services and testing for biopharmaceutical manufacturing, and its global end-to-end team has executed some 240 large molecule projects ranging in scale from three to 2,000 liters.

Advance Biotech Grant Program – Accelerating Therapeutic Development in Life Science

The Life Science business of Merck is expanding its commitment to the global biotech community with its Advance Biotech Grant Program. Through the newly expanded grant program, every six months, three recipients around the globe will be awarded a total of €200,000 in free services and products to address their process development challenges. In total, six companies will benefit from the Advance Biotech Grant Program each year.

"Biotech start-ups want to get their therapies to market fast and need expertise and funding to make that happen," Batra said.  "Having a partner like Merck with a range of differentiated technologies, services and expertise can help our customers solve their unique challenges. These expanded grants further demonstrate Merck's commitment to partnering to solve the toughest problems in life science."

The Life Science business of Merck has been awarding grants to emerging biotechs globally since 2015. Five grants were awarded to companies with promising therapies such as antibody drug conjugates for cancer and monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of fibrotic disease. More recently, the 2017 grant was awarded to four promising biotechs in China.

Winners are selected based on the scientific and societal merit of the therapy in development and process challenges and expertise gaps that may impact ongoing development.

For decades, Merck has collaborated with its customers to shape how drug production is done today, and will continue working together to shape the possibilities of tomorrow.

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About Merck

Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Almost 53,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2017, Merck generated sales of €15.3 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck holds the global rights to the "Merck" name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

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SOURCE Merck