Merck and Waters to Collaborate on Extractables and Leachables Reference Library

• Library will enable analytical labs to identify potential E&L compounds in their samples using instruments from Waters and confirm the identity using Merck's reference materials
  
• Collaboration to provide testing labs with unrivalled confidence in their results and enhance consumer safety

Darmstadt, Germany, February 15, 2022 – Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced that its Life Science business sector has entered into a collaboration with Waters Corporation to build and expand an Extractables and Leachables (E&L) Reference Library to include ion mobility measurements. The library will enable analytical labs to identify potential extractables and leachable compounds in their samples by using Waters’ ion mobility-enabled Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) instruments and then confirming the identity and quantity using Merck reference materials.

“Accurate screening for extractables and leachables is imperative to ensuring consumer safety, especially in pharmaceuticals, food packaging, or medical devices,” said Heike Petri, Head of Advanced Analytical and Industrial & Testing. “This collaboration will provide manufacturers with unrivalled confidence in their results, help improve workflow efficiency for labs, and ultimately contribute to consumer safety.”

Under the agreement, Waters will use high-quality analytical standards and Reference Materials from Merck to build and expand an E&L library of collision cross-section (CCS) values for Waters’ LC-MS instruments. The library, which will be available for download from the Waters Marketplace (login required), will help to identify E&L compounds, with each addition to the library carefully selected to ensure maximum relevance to users. The library is cross-linked to the Merck online product catalogue to provide users access to reference materials to confirm their results.

About Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science, and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene-editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck generated sales of € 17.5 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics.

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