Merck spearheading community-involved innovation

At Merck, we think in generations. We want to take part in building the future and to make life better for people all over the world. In this regard, innovation is key and nurturing an environment that supports innovation is critical.

At Merck, innovation is at the core of our business. It is reflected not only in our technological and product advancements, but also in our reformed business model. We also believe strongly in supporting the innovation of our local partners and are committed to the development of an innovative society. To that end, we adopt a multi-pronged approach in fostering innovation internally and externally.

Merck-Enactus Green Innovation Challenge

In December 2017, Merck held the inaugural "Merck-Enactus Green Innovation Challenge" jointly with Enactus China in Shanghai. The challenge is open to all universities in China. One thousand and fifteen university students from 137 universities submitted a total of 203 projects. The Challenge is also part of SPARK – the global volunteer programs of Merck, where Merck employees serve as judges and provide expertise as well as advice on project management.

Focusing on the "circular economy", students are tasked to come up with innovative solutions to eradicate waste by restoring and regenerating resources for as long as possible and extracting the maximum value from products and materials. A stronger and more circular economy is where the lives of products are extended and resources are used in a more sustainable way.

This challenge encourages university students to focus on reusing resources efficiently in order to achieve lower levels of pollution and attain sustainable social, economic and environmental development.

The Winning Projects

Winner - "Biogas Vitality" project by North China Electric Power University (Baoding). The biogas vitality project focuses on developing an efficient disposal method of animal dung for dairy farm owners. Due to the lack of management for biogas tanks, this caused instability in traditional biogas generators which limited the output of electrical energy in the dairy farms. Consequently, it led to piles of animal dung left around the farms and huge wastage of biogas.

The project team explored a set of generation systems which can provide continuous and steady electricity output, and therefore not only improved the efficiency of the biogas tanks but also satisfied the electricity needs of the population and part of production by combining photovoltaic power generation and biogas generation.

1st Runner Up – "Magi-clothing" project by Sun Yat-Sen University. The project links sources of recyclable clothing to sales terminals through innovative technologies and commercially viable green products. This effectively helps to establish a replicable "supply to production to sales" chain that improves recycling efficiency of used clothes and promotes sustainable consumption.

2nd Runner Up – "The I-mask" project by China Pharmaceutical University. The project aims to tackle health issues caused by indoor pollution. It is reported the indoor PM 2.5 AQI could reach up to 350 in some of the major cities in China, but the use of air purifiers and face masks is either inconvenient or inefficient in handling air filtration. In response to this situation, the team has developed an invisible anti-haze "mask" which contains poloxamer. The product could be attached to the nasal cavity and absorb the PM 2.5 in the air that is breathed in.

Infusing innovation into our DNA

Since Merck's establishment in 1668, sustainable innovation and business transformation have always driven Merck's development. With the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich, Merck now has the industry-leading eCommerce platform sigmaaldrich.com, which currently offers more than 250,000 products which can be delivered within two days of ordering online in mature markets.

Its life science business sector has more than 1,500 employees working in various research and development areas around the world. These teams collaborate closely with our customers to solve the toughest problems in life science by translating ideas into product innovations. To do so, it invests significantly in R&D.

In 2017, the company developed an alternative CRISPR genome-editing method called proxy-CRISPR, which can cut previously unreachable cell locations, making CRISPR more efficient, flexible and specific, and giving researchers more experimental options.

Merck has also made numerous investments in China, including the Life Science Center in Nantong and our first end-to-end biodevelopment center for the Asia-Pacific region in Shanghai to improve the life science value chain. These investments are aimed at meeting increasing demand of local customers for solutions and expertise which aid the scientific community in delivering innovative drugs faster and safer to the community.

Collaborating with local stakeholders to drive innovation

Merck has been working closely with academic institutions, including Peking University, Tsinghua University and Gene Research Institutions, where we provide them with consumables, sophisticated lab equipment and technical know-how. We are also keenly involved in the formulation of industry guidance toward the development and production of reagents, diagnostic products and medicines. By building a close collaboration between Merck, government authorities and the scientific community, together we can grow and push for more medical inventions and innovations.

Supporting innovation development in China

Merck's Emerging Biotech Program, a global grant program launched in the US in 2014 made its way to China in 2015 and again in 2017. The goal of this program is to support biotechnology companies in solving process development challenges in their medical research and address their process development challenges with Merck products and services. In 2017, four grant recipients won the grant. Each grant recipient will receive between €50,000 and €200,000 in products and services from Merck to help solve their process development challenges.

The 2nd Merck Emerging Biotech China Grant

The grant 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 is dedicated to fostering innovation, driven by our ambition to accelerate the access to health for people everywhere through science and technology." said Steve Vermant, managing director and head of Research Solutions China, Life Science business of Merck. "We believe that involving the community is vital to cultivating innovation. We will continue in our efforts to educate and collaborate with our partners and authorities to further contribute to the building of an innovative society in China."

About Merck

Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Founded in Darmstadt, Germany in 1668, we have become truly global – with more than 50,000 employees in
66 countries working on breakthrough solutions and vibrant 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.

Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company and we celebrate our 350-year anniversary this year. 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.