Merck to become global distributor of the European Bank of iPS Cells

New Delhi/Darmstadt: Merck, a leading science and technology company, on 15th June announced an expansion of its distribution alliance with Public Health England (PHE) to include the European Bank of induced pluripotent Stem Cells (EBiSC)—a comprehensive iPS cell bank of more than 300 quality-controlled, disease-relevant, patient-derived human iPSC lines.

Merck provides a complete solution for the iPSC workflow, including novel reprogramming kits, iPSC culture media and stem cell antibodies and characterization kits. The addition of the EBiSC portfolio strengthens Merck’s existing distribution relationship with PHE as a distributor of its European Collection of Authenticated Cell Cultures (ECACC) portfolio.

“This partnership will give customers greater access to a comprehensive suite of human iPSCs for disease modeling,” said Udit Batra, Member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Sciences, “This is a great addition to our authenticated cell line portfolio and strengthens our offering across the iPSC workflow.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will employ its sales, marketing and e-commerce expertise to distribute the EBiSC Human iPS Cell Bank. The distribution agreement includes all geographies except Japan. Financial details were not disclosed.

Following the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich by Merck in 2015, the global distribution agreement became an important part of Merck’s life science business, driving growth in life science and offering premier brand tools for disease modeling and drug screening.

EBiSC is a European public-private partnership project designed to address the increasing demand by stem cell researchers for quality-controlled, disease-relevant, research-grade iPSC lines, data and cell services. Its goal is to establish a centralized European cell bank providing researchers across academia and industry with access to scalable, cost-efficient and consistent high-quality tools for development of new medicines.