Life Science Leader Merck Launches New Innovations at Pittcon 2016

DARMSTADT, Germany, March 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Merck, a leading science and technology company is launching a range of new products for separation and analysis at the Pittcon Conference and Expo 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia, March 6 - 10, the world's largest conference for laboratory science. The innovations include high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary gas chromatography (GC) columns, and tools for effective analysis of water and easier sample preparation.

"We are committed to providing innovations that help our customers solve their toughest problems, advance science and accelerate access to health care around the world," said Udit Batra, CEO of Merck's life science business. "Our customers are benefitting from our expanded global footprint, industry-leading capabilities and broadened product portfolio."

Merck bought Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion at the end of 2015, making it one of the leading players in the life science industry. Pittcon 2016 marks the first major conference at which the combined businesses will exhibit together with a unified presence.

Among the new life science products are new categories of Cerilliant^® Certified Reference Materials, including bile acids, antiretrovirals and fatty acids. These compounds allow clinical researchers to accurately quantitate therapeutic drugs and endogeneous biomarkers.

"We rely on Merck's Cerilliant Certified Reference Materials to provide accuracy in longitudinal testing of patients and as well as between-lab studies," said Brian Rappold, scientific director at Essential Testing, LLC, a Collinsville, Illinois-based clinical medical laboratory provider. "Merck's Certified Reference Materials are fundamental tools in providing quality results to providers and patients."

Merck is also launching the following new products:

• Spectroquant^® Prove Spectrophotometers -- A new class of spectrophotometers for simplified, durable and secure analysis of waste water, drinking water, beverages and process water.
• Watercol^TM chromatography column -- New capillary GC columns that contain innovative stationary phases that produce a sharp peak shape for water, allowing convenient measurement of water.
• Ascentis^® Express Biphenyl chromatography column -- A new U/HPLC column that offers alternative selectivity for pharmaceutical analytes and drug metabolites that are not well retained or difficult to resolve on traditional alkyl (C18) and phenyl bonded phases.
• SLB^® IL (i-series) chromatography column -- New capillary GC columns that provide both selectivity and inertness toward polar analytes, resulting in better accuracy and sensitivity.
• Supel^TM QuE Verde sorbent -- A new QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) sorbent for the analysis of challenging compounds in green matrices, exhibiting improved recovery of problematic planar analytes when compared with traditional sorbents.

Pittcon 2016 attendees are encouraged to visit booth #3157 to learn more about Merck's products and speak with company experts. Follow us on twitter @merckgroup.

About Merck

Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop 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. In 2014, Merck generated sales of EUR11.3 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck, Darmstadt, Germany 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.

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