• Allows customers to continuedeveloping lifesaving medicines amid Covid-19 pandemic
• Customers can view the lab studies"live" with Merck scientists

SINGAPORE- Media OutReach - 15 September 2020 - Merck, a leading science andtechnology company,today announced an expansion of its Singapore biosafetytesting laboratory services. These services allow customers to conduct viralclearance studies that ensure the safety and quality of their biological drugsduring the clinical development process.

Merckscientists conduct viral clearance studies in the BioReliance® Lab in Singapore(Photograph by Merck KGaA)

"With Covid-19 travel restricted between manyAPAC countries, this expansion allows our customers to continue developing lifesavingmedicines without having to travel to our BioReliance^® laboratory inSingapore," said Mr. Chris Ross, interimsector head of the Life Science business of Merck.

Viral capacity at Merck's Singapore lab hasincreased by 50 per cent to meet demand from biopharmaceutical and cell andgene therapy developers and manufacturers in Asia Pacific. Merck's BioReliance^®technical team performs viral capacity studies that adhere to the customer'sprotocol using technology and process enhancements that allow the customer tohave a similar experience remotely via secure, "live" feed video. Customers donot need to travel away from their home labs and can watch experiments andreceive real-time updates as their process runs. Thecomplete viral clearance services offered by Merck scientistsinclude inactivation, filtration and chromatography, all conducted in a Good Laboratory Practice environment. All servicesare supported by project managers fluent in Chinese, Japanese and Korean and help ensure the safe release of leading medicines to patients aroundthe world.

"We are delighted that Merck hasdecided to expand its BioReliance® lab in Singapore to include viral clearancecapabilities," said Ms. Goh Wan Yee,Senior Vice President, Healthcare, Singapore Economic Development Board."The move is especially timely, as it will facilitate faster and easier testingfor biopharmaceutical companies in the region amid the ongoing COVID-19pandemic. In the long term, companies such as Merck contribute significantly tobuilding a holistic supporting ecosystem which will enhance thebiopharmaceutical industry."

Singaporeis a leading global science and technology research and development hubcommitted to growing the biomedical science sector, which has made the lifescience industry a key economic driver. Demand for viral clearance services hasbeen increasing since the inauguration of Merck's biosafety lab in Singapore in2018. Travel restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic have accelerated theimplementation of complete clearance services in the Singapore labs to supportbiologics customers in Asia. The complete viral clearance service is availablein Singapore now, with the increased capacity coming online by April 2021.

Merck supports scientists aroundthe world in efforts to accelerate development of treatments for and vaccines againstCovid-19 bysupplying materials, solutions and bioprocessing manufacturing platforms from its life science business. These offerings supportmore than 35 testing solutions, among them eight of the top 10 In-VitroDiagnostic market leaders; more than 50 different vaccine candidates; and morethan 20 monoclonal antibodies, plasma products and antivirals.

About Merck in Singapore

Merck established its presence in Singapore in 1973to promote Merck products in South East Asia under E. Merck Pte. Ltd.(Singapore). Merck (Singapore) Pte Ltd. was founded on August 26, 1994. MerckSingapore is the regional headquarters in Asia Pacific with more than 360employees supporting the healthcare, life science and performance materialsbusinesses. Merck Singapore is also the regional training and application hub,offering technology transfer and services including testing, processoptimization for the Life Science industry in the region.

The Life Science business sector of Merck offers abroad portfolio of tools and solutions with more than 300,000 products, rangingfrom lab water systems to gene editing tools, antibodies, cell lines, to end-to-endsolutions to help customers in developing and manufacturing drugs. We workclosely with our customers from academia, biotech and pharma to help deliverthe promise of their work better, faster and safer.

The Healthcare business sector of Merck focuses ondesigning and developing medicines and intelligent devices that provide ongoingcare for patients beyond their treatment. This includes new medications totreat conditions such as cancer or multiple sclerosis, but also innovativetechnologies that make life easier for patients. Our goal is to help people atevery stage of life -- also when it comes to creating new life especailly as theglobal market leader in fertility treatments.

The Performance Materials business sector of Merck isa leading solutions provider in the premium segment of high-tech materials andfunctional specialty chemicals. These materials are widely used in the waferfabs industry of Singapore.

AboutMerck

Merck, a leading science and technology company,operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 57,000employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's livesevery day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancinggene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the mostchallenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices -- the company iseverywhere. In 2019, Merck generated sales of €16.2 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsibleentrepreneurship have been key to Merck's technological and scientificadvances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. Thefounding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company.Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptionsare the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operateas EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science and EMD PerformanceMaterials.