Merck Millipore Introduces DRYPOUR™ Packaging System to Minimize Caking of Pharmaceutical Raw Materials

• Integrates desiccant bags into polyethylene liner
• Minimizes caking of hygroscopic salts during transport and storage
• Improves operational efficiency by reducing the need to manually break up heavily caked materials

February 4, 2014, Darmstadt, Germany — Merck Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck, has introduced the DRYPOUR™ packaging system, which minimizes caking of hygroscopic salts used in pharmaceutical manufacturing during transport and storage. The system, which consists of a polyethylene drum with a tamper-evident seal, a polyethylene liner with integrated desiccant bags and a breathable interior Tyvek^® liner, helps improve operational efficiency by reducing the time and effort needed to break up heavily caked raw materials.

The drum and polyethylene liner prevent outside moisture from entering the product. Any water vapor in the product itself can permeate the interior, tear-resistant Tyvek^® liner, migrate into the outer polyethylene liner and be absorbed by the integrated desiccant. Unlike other packaging systems, the desiccant bags in the DRYPOUR™ system are fixed to the perforated polyethylene liner, thus preventing contact with the product, so product quality is not compromised. For maximum effect, the desiccant bags are mounted in varying places on the liner.

“The DRYPOUR™ packaging system addresses the shortcomings associated with existing packaging options, increasing operational efficiency and reducing the risk of contamination,” noted Philip Schaefer, Head of Pharm Chemicals Solutions. “By integrating the desiccant directly into the liner system, hygroscopic salts are better protected from moisture with no exposure to the desiccant itself. Because caking is minimized with the DRYPOUR™ system, users no longer have to invest significant time and resources to break apart hardened chemicals, a manual process that also carries the risk of introducing contaminants.”

A range of the company’s line of EMPROVE^® pharmaceutical raw materials is available in the DRYPOUR™ packaging system. The DRYPOUR™ system is available in 100 kilogram package sizes and can be moved with common handling devices. The system meets both European Pharmacopoeia and USP requirements.

For more information, please visit www.merckmillipore.com/drypour.

About Merck Millipore
Merck Millipore is the Life Science division of Merck KGaA of Germany and offers a broad range of innovative, performance products, services and business relationships that enable our customers’ success in research, development and production of biotech and pharmaceutical drug therapies. Through dedicated collaboration on new scientific and engineering insights, and as one of the top three R&D investors in the Life Science Tools industry, Merck Millipore serves as a strategic partner to customers and helps advance the promise of life science.

Headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, the division has around 10,000 employees, operations in 66 countries and 2012 revenues of € 2.6 billion. Merck Millipore operates as EMD Millipore in the U.S. and Canada.

Note: Merck KGaA or Merck shall mean Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany  
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is a global pharmaceutical, chemical and life science company with total revenues of € 11.2 billion in 2012, a history that began in 1668, and a future shaped by approx. 39,000 employees in 66 countries. Its success is characterized by innovations from entrepreneurial employees. Merck KGaA's operating activities come under the umbrella of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in which the Merck family holds an approximately 70% interest and shareholders own the remaining approximately 30%. In 1917 the U.S. subsidiary Merck & Co. was expropriated and has been an independent company ever since.

Worldwide there are two separate companies that bear the name “Merck”, the original Merck KGaA from Darmstadt, Germany, the oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company in the world, and the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. in the United States. The rights to the name and trademark MERCK in North America (USA and Canada) lie with Merck & Co., the former U.S. subsidiary of Merck, whereas Merck KGaA operates in North America under the umbrella brand EMD. In the rest of the world, Merck KGaA owns the rights to the Merck name and trademark.