Merck Millipore Offers a Comprehensive and Growing Portfolio of Products and Technologies for Bioavailability Enhancement

• Addresses all key aspects of enhancing bioavailability including solubility, Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics profiles (PK/PD), targeting, and optimized formulation
• Delivers outstanding quality, appropriate GMP production for all applications, and exceptional supply chain security
• Supports customers from API development to registration of the final dosage form

October 9, 2012, Darmstadt, Germany — Merck Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck, today announced the availability of a comprehensive portfolio of products and technologies for enhancing drug bioavailability.  Supported by a legacy of expertise in pharmaceutical raw materials and technologies, the portfolio addresses major challenges in pharmaceutical formulation. This includes products for all types of dosage forms that address solubility, PK/PD modification and targeting, which must be taken into account for optimized bioavailability in the final drug. These bioavailability enhancement options offer a unique blend of broad experience, deep application know-how, and cGMP production capabilities to support customers beginning with API development to registration of the final dosage form – the approved therapeutic.  Merck Millipore will support this portfolio through major investments in the years to come.

Bioavailability is a prerequisite for attaining the maximum efficacy of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Ensuring high levels of bioavailability in the development of a therapeutic formulation is a major challenge facing the pharmaceutical industry. To address this issue, Merck Millipore provides solutions for formulators to ensure the right amount of a drug is delivered, at the right time, to the right place in the body.

“Delivering sufficient bioavailability is critical to the successful development of a new therapeutic,” notes Burghard Freiberg, Vice President of the Pharm Chemicals Solutions at Merck Millipore.  “Because each customer’s challenge requires a unique approach, we offer the broadest portfolio of excipients and technologies to improve the bioavailability of APIs and will continue to expand this portfolio.  We work closely with our customers to develop optimal solutions, and through our expertise, we are able to recognize opportunities for optimization that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.  With our focus on quality and exceptional supply chain security, we offer customers innovative ways to enhance their drug’s bioavailability while ensuring patient safety and speeding up time to market.” 

Nearly 40% of drug candidates fail in clinical trials due to poor bioavailability properties.  Avoiding these failures can help control skyrocketing drug development costs, reduce wasted time and resources, and accelerate the development process.  Enhancement of bioavailability can boost pipeline productivity, secure return on investment and enable more effective life-cycle management. Additionally, it can also help differentiate and drive cost reduction of current therapeutics.

For additional information please visit: www.merckmillipore.com/bioavailability.

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 67 countries and 2011 revenues of EUR 2.4 billion. Merck Millipore operates as EMD Millipore in the U.S. and Canada.

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