Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Announces Opening of First M Lab™ Collaboration Center

• Molsheim, France center supports pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers from pre-clinical through full-scale production in non-GMP environment
• Hands-on customer access to company’s product portfolio and technical expertise
• Manufacturing simulations encompass end-to-end process development

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, today officially announced the opening of  a new M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Molsheim, France. The center is the first in Europe and ninth worldwide for the company’s life science business, providing biopharmaceutical manufacturers with a shared, exploratory environment where they can closely collaborate with company scientists and engineers to solve their toughest challenges and accelerate development and production of new therapies.

“With the rapidly growing biopharma industry in Europe and demand for cost-effective therapies worldwide, customers will benefit from our expertise to develop processes for manufacturing drugs faster, safer and more effectively,” said Udit Batra, member of the Executive Board and CEO, Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “Our investment here will accelerate the future growth of EMEA’s biopharmaceutical industry.”

The newest M Lab™ Collaboration Center, which offers 43,000 square feet of space, represents a significant investment in the region. The $11 million center provides customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with a fully equipped, non-GMP pilot and bench scale lab and meeting center where they can work alongside company experts to solve their most pressing processing development challenges without impacting their production line.

The center in Molsheim is the latest in the network of centers around the world operated by the life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Other M Lab™ Collaboration Centers are located in the United States, Brazil, China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan and India (where there are two labs).

Customers collaborate with the company’s technical experts, exploring new ways to increase productivity, improve processes and mitigate risks. The pilot and bench scale labs are in a space that simulates a real production environment across their process. Customers operate real equipment, evaluate their processes and can also take hands-on bioprocessing training courses, educating them on best practices and new approaches to develop, optimize and scale-up processes as well as simplify global technology transfer.

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