Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Announces Collaborations and Investment in all Three Business Sectors in China

• Partnership with Alibaba Health
• Investment in OLED Technology Center China
• Cooperation with Tongji University
• Anniversary celebration in Shanghai with key stakeholders

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, today announced today announced moves designed to pave the way for an even more successful future in China. During the ceremony marking the company’s 350^th anniversary, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, signed an agreement with Alibaba Health, opened a technology center for its OLED customers in Shanghai, and announced the participation of Tongji University, Shanghai, China, in its CRISPR Core Partnership program.

Stefan Oschmann, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt Germany, welcomed 400 guests representing the worlds of politics, business and society to the company’s 350^th anniversary celebration in Shanghai. “As we mark our 350^th anniversary, we are curiously looking towards the future – and to a large extent, the future of science and technology will be shaped here in China. With today’s news we are strengthening our footprint in this vibrant ecosystem of innovation. Together with our Chinese partners, we want to create technologies that make a meaningful difference in the lives of people in China and around the globe,” Stefan Oschmann said on Wednesday.

The new collaboration with Chinese Internet healthcare company Alibaba Health, which was announced today, aims to provide Chinese patients and their families with improved access to healthcare services via a patient-centric health platform. The collaboration will start with a drug tracking platform. Based on the expertise of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in diabetes, thyroid disorders and cardiovascular diseases, the platform will help ensure safety and security of drug use, while generating consistent value for patients through a series of add-on services. With Alibaba Health’s strengths in the field of online healthcare, the two companies will also explore online healthcare service applications, direct-to-patient models as well as Artificial Intelligence- enabled healthcare applications.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, also opened its new OLED Technology Center China in Shanghai today. The new center will provide local customers with customized solutions to enable innovative OLED application development. It offers state-of-the-art equipment and cleanroom facilities for OLED device fabrication and characterization. This location will serve as a collaboration space for customers and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, as they work together to generate the ideal solutions for OLED display products. This investment reflects the customer-centric approach of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, of developing highly pure, reliable, and efficient OLED materials for innovative products in line with market requirements and in support of customer innovation.

Thirdly, the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced a new CRISPR core partnership with Tongji University, Shanghai, China. This is the first partner in China to join leading global scientists from renowned academic institutes including for example Stanford University, USA, in the CRISPR Core Partnership Program of the company. To date, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has more than 70 CRISPR core partners around the world. The program allows dedicated research on treating challenging diseases using genome editing. CRISPR genome-editing technology, which allows the precise modification of chromosomes in living cells, is advancing treatment options for a variety of medical conditions. CRISPR applications are far-ranging – from identifying genes associated with cancer and rare diseases to reversing mutations that cause blindness.

The strong commitment of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to China is reflected by today’s new collaboration and investment as well as by the pharmaceutical production plant in Nantong, China, where a new Life Science facility is to be opened early 2019, as announced in late 2016. The overall investment in the second-largest production plant of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, after its headquarters in Darmstadt is € 250 million.