Merck Expands Distribution Agreement with Public Health England

• Merck to become global distributor of the European Bank of iPS Cells, excluding Japan
• Extension of relationship with Public Health England for global distribution of cost-efficient, authenticated cell lines

Darmstadt, Germany, June 15, 2017 — Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced an expansion of its distribution alliance with Public Health England (PHE) to include the European Bank of induced pluripotent Stem Cells (EBiSC) — a comprehensive iPS cell bank of more than 300 quality-controlled, disease-relevant, patient-derived human iPSC lines.

Merck provides a complete solution for the iPSC workflow, including novel reprogramming kits, iPSC culture media and stem cell antibodies and characterization kits. The addition of the EBiSC portfolio strengthens Merck’s existing distribution relationship with PHE as a distributor of its European Collection of Authenticated Cell Cultures (ECACC) portfolio.

“This partnership will give customers greater access to a comprehensive suite of human iPSCs for disease modeling,” said Udit Batra, Member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science. “This is a great addition to our authenticated cell line portfolio and strengthens our offering across the iPSC workflow.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will employ its sales, marketing and e-commerce expertise to distribute the EBiSC Human iPS Cell Bank. The distribution agreement includes all geographies except Japan. Financial details were not disclosed.

Following the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich by Merck in 2015, the global distribution agreement became an important part of Merck’s life science business, driving growth in life science and offering premier brand tools for disease modeling and drug screening.

EBiSC is a European public-private partnership project designed to address the increasing demand by stem cell researchers for quality-controlled, disease-relevant, research-grade iPSC lines, data and cell services. Its goal is to establish a centralized European cell bank providing researchers across academia and industry with access to scalable, cost-efficient and consistent high-quality tools for development of new medicines.

メルクについて
Merck（メルク）はヘルスケア、ライフサイエンス、パフォーマンスマテリアルズの分野における世界有数のサイエンスとテクノロジー企業です。がんや多発性硬化症のためのバイオ医薬品を用いた治療法から、科学研究と生産に関する最先端システム、スマートフォンや液晶テレビ向けの液晶材料にいたるまで、約53,000人の従業員が人々の暮らしをより良くする技術の一層の進歩を目指しています。2017年は66カ国で153億ユーロの売上高を計上しました。

メルクは1668年に創業された世界で最も歴史の長い医薬・化学品会社で、 創業家が今でも、上場企業が率いるメルクグループの株式の過半数を所有しています。メルクの名称およびブランドのグローバルな権利は、メルクが保有しています。唯一の例外は米国とカナダで、両国ではEMDセローノ、ミリポアシグマ、EMDパフォーマンスマテリアルズとして事業を行っています。