Merck Opens First M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Europe

- Molsheim, France center supports pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers from pre-clinical through full-scale production in non-GMP environment

- Hands-on customer access to Merck's Life Science product portfolio and technical expertise

- Manufacturing simulations encompass end-to-end process development

DARMSTADT, Germany, March 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Merck, a leading science and technology company, today officially opened its new M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Molsheim, France. The center is Merck's first in Europe and ninth worldwide, providing biopharmaceutical manufacturers with a shared, exploratory environment where they can closely collaborate with Merck scientists and engineers to solve their toughest challenges and accelerate development and production of new therapies.

"With the rapidly growing biopharma industry in Europe and demand for cost-effective therapies worldwide, customers will benefit from our expertise to develop processes for manufacturing drugs faster, safer and more effectively," said Udit Batra, member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science, in Molsheim today. "Our investment here will accelerate the future growth of EMEA's biopharmaceutical industry."

Merck's newest M Lab™ Collaboration Center, which offers 4,000 square meters of space, represents a significant investment in the region. The €10 million center provides customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with a fully equipped, non-GMP pilot and bench scale lab and meeting center where they can work alongside Merck experts to solve their most pressing processing development challenges without impacting their production line.

The center in Molsheim is the latest in Merck's network of centers around the world. Other M Lab™ Collaboration Centers are located in the United States, Brazil, China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, India (where there are two labs).

Merck's customers collaborate with the company's technical experts, exploring new ways to increase productivity, improve processes and mitigate risks. The pilot and bench scale labs are in a space that simulates a real production environment across their process. Customers operate real equipment, evaluate their processes and can also take hands-on bioprocessing training courses, educating them on best practices and new approaches to develop, optimize and scale-up processes as well as simplify global technology transfer.

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About Merck
Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 52,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – Merck is everywhere. In 2018, Merck generated sales of €14.8 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck's technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials.

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