MilliporeSigma Expands End-to-End Biodevelopment Centers in North America, China and Europe

• Global expansion to meet strong market demand
• Biodevelopment centers in Boston, Mass. and Shanghai, China feature full suite of MilliporeSigma technologies and services
• New process development centers and full single-use GMP facility in France to accelerate development of biologics

Billerica, Massachusetts, January 10, 2017 — MilliporeSigma, a leading science and technology company, today announced the expansion of its end-to-end biodevelopment centers to meet increasing customer demand for its turnkey portfolio of bioprocessing products, manufacturing capabilities and industry leading technological expertise.

The expansion, which includes the opening of two new process development centers in the U.S. and China, follows the commercial success of MilliporeSigma’s biodevelopment center in Martillac, France. The two new units will be located in close proximity to customers in the Shanghai and Boston metropolitan areas. Each will provide a full range of process development capabilities and services. This includes cell line development services, both upstream and downstream process development, as well as non-GMP clinical production.

“We are seeing an increasing global demand for end-to-end process development solutions and MilliporeSigma offers a one-stop shop for biopharma customers,” said Udit Batra, Member of the Executive Board, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and CEO, MilliporeSigma. “This expansion reinforces our position as the premier supplier of all process development and clinical stage manufacturing solutions, materials and services needed for the production of biologics. This is a strategic, high-potential investment for MilliporeSigma specifically designed to meet customer needs on three continents.”

MilliporeSigma’s biodevelopment center in Martillac, France, is a fully operational single-use, GMP facility for manufacturing clinical stage batches. Equipped with a full suite of MilliporeSigma technologies, including the 2000 liter single-use Mobius® bioreactor, Martillac offers biopharma companies a complete solution to support their clinical development programs.

MilliporeSigma’s end-to-end offering delivers important benefits and addresses key challenges for biopharmaceutical companies at all stages of molecule development and commercialization in any geography. In addition to the Mobius® bioreactor, the end-to-end portfolio includes solutions such as Lynx® CDR, Viresolve® Process Area Modules, Pellicon® and Centinel™ Intelligence Virus Defense.

Early-stage companies with limited resources and infrastructure benefit from a partner with strong expertise and experience developing processes and GMP clinical manufacturing to help accelerate early clinical development programs. Companies in more advanced stages need to overcome the challenges of moving from late phase clinical development into commercial manufacturing, accelerating availability of affordable life-enhancing drugs. With an end-to-end approach, MilliporeSigma can facilitate and accelerate scaling and technical transfer of an entire process to a new location.

About the Life Science Business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

The Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as MilliporeSigma in the U.S. and Canada, has some 22,000 employees and 59 manufacturing sites worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 300,000 products focused on scientific discovery, biomanufacturing, and testing services.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science, and electronics. Around 58,000 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 – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany generated sales of € 17.5 billion in 66 countries.

The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark “Merck” internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company’s technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. For more information about Merck, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, visit  www.emdgroup.com.