Merck Signs MoU with Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy and Daejeon City for New Asia Pacific BioProcessing Production Center in South Korea

MoU with Merck's Life Science business aimed at supporting the region's healthcare ecosystem

Proposed bioprocessing facility to be based in Daejeon City

Further collaboration aims to support emerging biotech companies and academic research

DAEJEON CITY,South Korea,May 3,2023 -- Merck,a leading science and technology company,has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Trade,Industry and Energy (MOTIE),and Daejeon City for a new Asia-Pacific BioProcessing Center,aimed at supporting the region's healthcare ecosystem. The planned bioprocessing facility would support commercial manufacturing for biotech and pharmaceutical customers across Asia-Pacific.

Pictured left to right,Chang Yang Lee,Minister of Trade,Industry & Energy,South Korea; Matthias Heinzel,Member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO Life Science; and Jang Woo Lee,Mayor of Daejeon,following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for New Asia Pacific BioProcessing Production Center in South Korea.

"South Korea is an emerging global leader in the biotech industry,and this Memorandum of Understanding demonstrates Merck's commitment to the region by working closely with the government to better support our customers," said Matthias Heinzel,Member of the Executive Board of Merck and CEO,Life Science. "The proposed facility would play a vital role in fulfilling demand in the Asia-Pacific region while representing an important hub for further biopharma industry development in South Korea."

"We expect this collaboration to serve as an opportunity for our pharmaceutical-bio sector to take a leap forward as the science and technology industry of South Korea," said Chang Yang Lee,Industry & Energy.

"Daejeon is the birthplace of the Korean biotech industry. Today,it's where companies,big and small,are intensely focused on technological innovation and talent development to bring new and novel therapies to market," said Jang Woo Lee,Mayor of Daejeon. "Together with Merck,this planned investment cooperation will help support Daejeon's growth to become a world-class biotech hub."

Merck also plans to work with the Daejeon government to support biotech companies based in the Daedeok Research Complex located in Daejeon,as well as expand the bio-research cooperation with leading Korean universities.

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About Merck

Merck,operates across life science,healthcare and electronics. More than 64,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2022,Merck generated sales of €22.2billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck's technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada,where the business sectors of Merck operate as MilliporeSigma in life science,EMD Serono in healthcare,and EMD Electronics in electronics.

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