Merck Announces €300,000 in Grants to Accelerate Therapeutic Research in Life Science

• Forty-seven applications, more than double the submissions of company’s first Emerging Grant program
• Four recipients to receive €50,000 to €200,000 in technologies and services to accelerate therapeutics to market

Darmstadt, Germany, February 27, 2018 — Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced the recipients of its Emerging Biotech Grant Program in China. Merck will award a total of €300,000 in technologies and services to four biotechnology companies in support of their medical research and to address their process development challenges.

Forty-seven emerging Chinese biotechnology companies applied to the program and were asked to describe one or more of their current projects, the medical need solved as well as the process development challenges they face.

“The success of this program shows the rapid advances being made by the Chinese Emerging Biotech companies and Merck’s strong commitment to support them in their research and development challenges,” said Udit Batra, member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science.

The four recipients are:

• Hangzhou ImmunoMAB Inc., for developing cell therapy, antibody-drug conjugates and bispecific monoclonal antibodies.
  
  
• Beijing Beyond Biotechnology, for developing long-acting fusion proteins, bispecific and multispecific antibodies for the treatment of cancer, diabetes and autoimmune disease.
  
  
• Hangzhou JUST Biotherapeutics Co. Ltd., for developing antibody and antibody-like biotherapeutics for the treatment of infectious disease.
  
  
• Chengdu ConMed Biosciences Inc., for developing new therapeutic antibody drugs using Hybridoma screening and cell line development platform.

Merck experts selected the winning submissions based on the scientific and societal merit of the therapy in development and process challenges and expertise gaps that may impact ongoing development. Each grant recipient will receive between €50,000 and €200,000 in products and services from Merck to help solve these challenges.

Merck has offered this grant program to emerging biotech companies in the United States and Europe in recent years. In 2015, five grants were given in China to companies developing antibody drug conjugates for cancer and monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of fibrotic disease. More resources: www.merckmillipore.com/emergingbiotech

About Merck

Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. More than 52,000 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.