Advertisement

Picture Swiss Biotech Association Swiss Biotech Days 2024 SBD24 Basel 650x100px
Document › Details

Merck KGaA. (1/6/22). "Press Release: Definitive Agreement to Acquire Exelead will Strengthen Merck’s CDMO Offering for mRNA". Darmstadt.

Region Region Indianapolis, IN
  Country United States (USA)
Organisations Organisation Merck KGaA
  Group Merck (DE) (Group)
  Organisation 2 Exelead (US)
  Group Merck (DE) (Group)
Products Product contract manufacturing (biologicals)
  Product 2 lipid nanoparticle technology (LNP technology)
Index terms Index term Exelead–Merck (DE): investment, 202201 acquisition $760m in cash by Merck
  Index term 2 AmpTec–Merck (DE): investment, 202101 acquisition €na of AmpTec GmbH bei Merck
Persons Person Heinzel, Matthias (Merck (DE) 202201 Executive Board Member + CEO Life Science)
  Person 2 Rigg, John (Exelead 202201 CEO)
     


> Targeted acquisition to accelerate novel modalities service offering

> Exelead, a full-service CDMO, focusing on Lipid Nanoparticle formulations enhances Merck’s mRNA and lipid manufacturing capabilities

> Customers will benefit from unique and integrated solutions across the mRNA value chain


Merck, a leading science and technology company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Exelead, a biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), for approximately USD 780 million in cash. Exelead specializes in complex injectable formulations, including Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) based drug delivery technology which is key in mRNA therapeutics for use in Covid-19 and many other indications.

“Novel modalities, particularly mRNA, present a highly attractive business opportunity as pharma and biotech pipelines are increasingly building on them beyond Covid-19. The acquisition of Exelead will further enable Merck to capture the significant potential of the fast-growing market for mRNA therapies by providing leading CDMO services to our customers,” explained Belén Garijo, Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck.

“Exelead’s capabilities and expertise will strengthen our CDMO mRNA offering. We are excited to work with Exelead’s experienced team. Together, we will provide our customers a unique and truly integrated offering across the mRNA manufacturing process. This will significantly decrease supply chain complexity and enhance speed-to-market to ultimately accelerate access to life-enhancing therapeutics for patients worldwide,” added Matthias Heinzel, Member of the Executive Board of Merck and CEO Life Science.

“With Merck’s long-established expertise in the biopharmaceutical industry, Exelead will now be in a greater position to serve the needs of customers and patients. The business combination will further strengthen our renowned technological know-how and unique expertise that we bring to the CDMO space,” said John Rigg, Chief Executive Officer of Exelead.

The acquisition of Exelead is another milestone to accelerate innovation in Merck’s Process Solutions business unit, one of the company’s three growth engines (“Big 3”), through targeted smaller to medium-sized acquisitions with high impact. It follows the company’s acquisition of AmpTec, a leading Hamburg, Germany-based, mRNA CDMO, that Merck had announced at the beginning of 2021. The transaction enhances Merck’s more than 20 years’ experience in producing lipids, one of the critical components for the formulation of mRNA therapeutics including Covid-19 vaccines as well as its mRNA manufacturing capabilities.

Exelead has more than ten years of experience in all development phases from pre-clinical development to commercial contract manufacturing for LNP formulations, including fill and finish. Exelead is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, where it operates its production and employs more than 200 experts. Merck intends to continue to invest in mRNA as a modality and will scale up this technology at Exelead’s existing site in Indianapolis.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022 and is subject to regulatory clearances as well as the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.


For more information please contact Friederike Segeberg
+49 151 1454-6328
Email


All Merck Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.


About Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 58,000 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 advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck generated sales of € 17.5 billion 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 EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics.

   
Record changed: 2023-06-05

Advertisement

Picture Swiss Biotech Association Swiss Biotech Days 2024 SBD24 Basel 650x200px

More documents for Merck (DE) (Group)


To subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter for the European life sciences, please send an e-mail to info@iito.de and simply fill the subject line with the word »LSE Newsletter«

Find more infos about advertising at [iito] web portals in our media flyer [iito] in a Nutshell [PDF file]

Please visit also our web portals for the European life sciences and the worldwide mass spectrometry industry at Life-Sciences-Europe.com (European life sciences) and Mass-Spec-Capital.com (worldwide mass spectrometry)

Please visit also our web portals for the life sciences in German-speaking Europe (DE, AT & CH) and the worldwide mass spectrometry industry at Life-Sciences-Germany.com (life sciences in German-speaking Europe) and Mass-Spec-Capital.com (worldwide mass spectrometry)

Advertisement

Picture Berlin Partner Voices Peter Seeberger Chemistry Transformation 650x300px




» top