Merck Millipore Expands Provantage^® Upstream Bioproduction Services to the North American Market

• Enhances expression levels via comprehensive media and feed screening
• Provides R&D and preclinical material for research and screening studies
• Optimizes conditions to deliver greater yield and reduce cost of goods

May 5, 2014, Darmstadt, Germany — Merck Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck, today announces the expansion of its upstream services into North America as part of its Provantage^® Biodevelopment and Clinical Supply offering. The company’s Massachusetts facilities will now offer upstream capabilities including media and feed screening, small-scale material production, and optimization of conditions for scale-up and technology transfer. This expansion allows Merck Millipore’s North American customers to access the same services European customers have long received at the company’s GMP biodevelopment center in Martillac, France.

Provantage^® upstream services enable customers to improve yield and productivity, and reduce costs while ensuring consistent critical quality attributes. The Provantage^® team leverages years of experience in media and feed screening, defining parameters and assessing robustness to optimize conditions for specific cell lines, leading to enhanced upstream manufacturing processes.

Provantage^® services offer a great deal of flexibility for customers. Upon completion of upstream services, customers can elect to have the Provantage^® team provide GMP drug substances. Alternatively, for customers who wish to transfer production, a global network of engineers and scientists can seamlessly transfer the new process and associated equipment to any facility, providing expert training and support to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

“Some of the largest gains in process productivity, consistency, scalability and efficiency can be achieved during the clone to media and feed steps,” described Oliver Klaeffling, Head of Integrated Pharm Solutions. “It is essential to identify the optimal upstream process at an early stage as once in the clinic, these parameters often prove difficult to alter from a regulatory and economic standpoint. Our team works with clients to review their upstream strategies and identify opportunities for improvement while maintaining the desired quality characteristics.”

For more information please visit: www.merckmillipore.com/provantage.

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.