Merck Collaborates with Bio-valley (Beijing) Technology Co., LTD on Biotechnology R&D Platform to Support Talent Development in China

News Release

Shanghai, China, October 20, 2021 – Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced a collaboration with Bio-valley (Beijing) Technology Co., LTD (Bio-valley) to establish technical talent training programs for China’s biopharmaceutical industry. The collaboration is supported by the Biotechnology Innovation Council (BIC) of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (CAEFI), which is supervised by the Ministry of Commerce of China.

“With China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and ‘Healthy China 2030’ initiatives, China is intensively working on training and further enhancing the skills of talents for the world's second-largest biopharmaceutical market,” said Marc Jaffré, Managing Director of the Life Science business sector of Merck China. “Our collaboration with local industry experts to develop talent is a key step towards accelerating China’s life science eco-system and beyond. We are proud to offer our global technical expertise and training sessions at our state-of-the-art centers.”

Merck and Bio-valley, together with BIC, aim to jointly leverage the research and development capabilities for China in biotechnology innovation and industrialization, specifically through a dedicated life science training program for talent development in key strategic regions throughout China, such as the Yangtze River Delta, the Greater Bay Area, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and Chengdu-Chognqing. The partnership will leverage on respective advantages of the three organizations to attract innovative resources from the global biotechnology industry and achieve high-quality cluster development.

The newly established training program, along with its tools, services, and digital platforms, empowers talents at different stages, helping deliver breakthrough therapies more quickly by providing them with advanced lab materials, state-of-the-art technologies, and services, knowledge on regulatory and quality, in order to make research and biotech production simpler, faster and safer.

“Merck is our first global corporate partner in the life science industry,” said Zheng Junwei, Vice President of China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment and President of Biotechnology Innovation Committee of China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment. “Together with Merck and its global network and local expertise, we hope to provide our biopharmaceutical industry with more seasoned professionals to boost innovation and achieve the Healthy China by 2030.”

This new partnership extends the collaboration among Merck, BIC and Bio-valley from the original Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in July 2020, when Merck opened its M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Shanghai. The M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Shanghai, which is the largest in the Merck network, provides integrated training and expertise when it comes to advancing research and development, and manufacturing for next-generation therapies together with a strong network of Merck experts across the globe. The Center offers customizable solutions and services that help biopharmaceutical companies improve their processes from drug discovery to manufacturing, enabling them to save time and costs and increase speed to market.

The Life Science business sector of Merck is a leading, global supplier of tools for academic labs and the biopharmaceutical and industrial sectors. With a portfolio of more than 300,000 products focused on scientific discovery, biomanufacturing, and testing services; an industry-leading eCommerce platform, the business sector employs more than 23,000 people and operates 59 manufacturing sites worldwide, including over 1,300 people across China, working in Research, Process, and Applied solutions, Integrated Supply Chain Operations, as well as Quality and Regulatory Management.