MilliporeSigma Invests Additional $50 Million to Enhance Manufacturing and Distribution in Asia

• Investment supports growing demand for biopharmaceutical manufacturing
• Builds capabilities with two new manufacturing and distribution centers in South Korea and India
• Accelerates Mobius® single-use manufacturing in China for biosimilars development

Burlington, Massachusetts, February 21, 2018 — MilliporeSigma today announced an additional investment of $50 million to build a robust manufacturing and distribution platform in Asia over a span of two years. This investment follows the company’s November 2016 announcement of its $100 million Life Science investment in Nantong, China.

“In biopharmaceutical research, time is of the essence,” said Udit Batra, CEO, MilliporeSigma. “Our investments in the important Asian markets of South Korea, India and China ensure that our customers have ready access to the products needed to develop new therapies and biosimilars that accelerate access to health for people everywhere.”

Manufacturing & Distribution Center in Songdo, South Korea

The rapidly growing biopharmaceutical industry in South Korea makes the country one of the key Life Science hubs in Asia. The push for research and for rapid, custom manufacturing capabilities mean a greater need for accessibility to pharmaceutical products and solutions toward the advancement of research and innovation. MilliporeSigma’s new manufacturing and distribution center, located in the Songdo district of Incheon, will include an infrastructure to facilitate the supply of its products to customers in Korea and advanced cell culture media manufacturing capabilities (imMEDIAte Advantage® Custom Media). Occupying a land area of 109,000 square feet, the new site is expected to be fully operational in Q4 2019.

New Manufacturing & Distribution Center in Mumbai, India

The new manufacturing and distribution center, located in Mumbai, is expected to be completed in 2019. Occupying 10 acres, the site is more than 129,000 square feet with added capacity to meet future growth, further improving inventory availability and reducing lead times.

Mobius® Single-use Manufacturing in Wuxi, China

China, with a burgeoning biosimilar market, is fast becoming a biotech powerhouse. Single-use technologies provide increased flexibility and efficiency which are critical for biosimilar development and manufacturing. This investment, to accelerate MilliporeSigma’s Mobius® single-use manufacturing, addresses the growing biopharmaceutical demand in China. The site will be ready in 2018, and is expected to reduce lead time by at least 50 percent.

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.