Merck Wins Scotland’s Life Science Award for Excellence in Community Engagement

• Prestigious award recognizes achievements in community service, volunteerism

Darmstadt, Germany, February 3, 2017 — Merck today announced that it has received the 2017 Scotland’s Life Science Award for outstanding achievements in community engagement. The annual awards are the top industry award in Scotland, drawing hundreds of stakeholders from the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, as well as government and academia.

“This award reflects our ongoing commitment to provide volunteer programs that benefit the communities in which we operate,” said David McClelland, Head of EU Biologics Operations, Life Science. “We share this award with our employees who make a lasting impression as they lend their time and expertise, inspiring young people to explore science-related careers through our skills-based volunteer program, called SPARK. This program seeks to ‘spark’ an interest in science and ‘spark’ curiosity in the next generation of problem solvers.”

In 2016, the life science business of Merck delivered science lessons to more than 1,250 students in the Glasgow and Stirling areas through SPARK, which provides community service opportunities for its 19,000 global life science employees. Merck volunteers work with schools to lead, hands on scientific experiments used in real-world applications. The business also has a successful collaboration with the Glasgow Science Centre, to enable delivery of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education within that facility.

Merck also supports employees through company-sponsored events ranging from staff fundraising activities to sports days to health promotion days, and has longstanding relationships with several charities in Scotland including Glasgow City Mission, Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity and Beatson Cancer Charity. In 2016, 325 employees raised £4,100 for their chosen charities, which the company matched, for a total of £8,200 donated.

Merck has a long tradition of supporting various educational programs around the world and its BioReliance® site has been a significant player in the Scottish life science sector since 1990, providing contract biological safety testing and mission critical data that supports the development and release of cutting-edge medicines through BioReliance® Biopharma services. Merck has five sites and more than 500 employees in Scotland.

Scottish Enterprise has been running Scotland’s Life Science Annual Awards for the past 17 years. Each year, between 50 and 60 nominations are received across several categories.

About Merck
Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2016, Merck generated sales of €15 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.