Merck Expands M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Shanghai

News Release

• Additional € 14 million investment provides new opportunities for local and regional clients
• Adds 2,000 square meters of new collaboration space, including application labs, testing and validation
• Expanded M Lab™ Collaboration Center and BioReliance^® Biologics Testing Center now part of newly named Shanghai Technical Application and Testing Center 

Shanghai, China, March 26, 2024 – Merck, a leading science and technology company, has expanded its M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Shanghai, the company’s largest in its global network of ten interconnected labs. The € 14 million investment adds a new biology application lab, a process development training center and an upstream application lab to the existing M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Shanghai.

“With the evolving needs of the biopharmaceutical industry in China and greater emphasis on novel drug therapies, we see growing demands in process development applications and talent development in the region,” said Dr. Roy Wu, Managing Director of the Life Science business sector, Merck China. “Our expansion of the M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Shanghai will offer more capabilities, customized solutions and services that support biopharmaceutical and biologics companies to develop best practices in manufacturing that save time, costs and increase speed to market for life-saving therapies.”

Opened in 2020 and strategically located in Pudong, at the heart of the biomedical park in Shanghai, the M Lab™ Collaboration Center offers customizable solutions tailored for China’s life science community to help advance drug development. It includes Pilot Scale and Process Development support labs that offer non-GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) lab space where pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturers can explore ideas, learn techniques and work side-by-side with the company’s scientists and engineers to solve critical process development and production challenges. Customers can participate in product demonstrations, hands-on training, formal bioprocessing educational courses and experiments, and apply best practices and new approaches to develop, optimize and scale-up processes.

With the expansion, Merck will offer extra capabilities to its customers in China:

Biology application lab: This lab suite includes one general biology lab, one cell culture lab, and two Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) labs that offer capabilities such as cell culture, adeno-associated virus (AAV) packaging, protein expression and purification, and various immunoassays to biopharma and academic customers in antibody development, production and validation, sample testing, and immunoassay development.

Process Development Training Center: It includes two training rooms, an upstream lab, a downstream lab, and a pilot lab, providing advanced training solutions and courses for biopharma companies, policy makers, regulatory bodies and agencies, universities and other academics with comprehensive knowledge for upstream and downstream processes, such as cell culture, bioreactor, clarification, chromatography, ultrafiltration, virus, and sterile filtration.  

Upstream application lab: With a BSL-2 lab and an analytical lab, this lab space offers state-of-the-art technologies to support novel modalities and vaccine industry, from cell line to customized cell culture media, employing leading cell culture and analytical platforms to help customers to improve their upstream process and manufacturing productivity and quality.

Shanghai Technical Application and Testing Center: In a move to foster collaboration, accelerate advancements, and break down silos that can hinder interdisciplinary breakthroughs, the company is consolidating its various existing labs in Shanghai under one name: The Shanghai Technical Application and Testing Center. This integration signifies a strong commitment to collaboration, bringing together value-chain customers, and making significant contributions to the scientific community. The Center houses 14 labs from the M  Lab™ Collaboration Center and several labs from the BioRelliance^® Biologics Testing Center opened in 2022.

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