• New plant for the production of inorganic salts by crystallization

• Investment of around € 30 million

• Laboratory Business and Life Science Solutions are strengthened

Darmstadt — Merck KGaA announced today that it has started construction work at its Darmstadt site on a production plant for the manufacture of inorganic salts. This will increase capacity by around 50% compared to the production lines currently being used. The company is investing around € 30 million in planning, developing and constructing the plant, which will produce active ingredients and

excipients, products for use in biopharmaceutical production processes, additives for the food industry and laboratory reagents. The plant is scheduled to begin operation in mid-2011, when nearly 70 employees in inorganic chemical production will move to the new facilities.

“The cornerstone has been laid for a key investment in the future,” said Klaus R. Bischoff, Head of the Performance & Life Science Chemicals division at Merck. “As a supplier of key technologies, we want to grow along with our customers in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. This expansion of capacity and modernization is our response to the growing global demand for and high requirements placed on quality and product safety for final pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical

formulations. At the same time, the new plant is a strong commitment to Darmstadt as a Merck chemical production site.”

The modernization measures in inorganic chemical production are part of the growth strategy for Merck’s units Life Science Solutions and Laboratory Business, both within the division Performance & Life Science Chemicals. After the construction of the new materials research center, which will be opened in Darmstadt this year, this is one of Merck’s largest chemical investments worldwide.

In Life Science Solutions, Merck has an extensive product range and supports its customers in all phases of the drug manufacturing process, from research, industrial production and quality control, through to service in concrete safety and regulatory issues.

Merck’s Laboratory Business is one of the leading suppliers of laboratory chemicals to research, teaching and industrial establishments, offering an extensive range of products, for example suitable for analytical chromatography, microbiology, food and environmental analysis, and pharmaceutical research. Reagents for analytical and general applications as well as solvents, salts, acids, alkalis and organic chemicals round off the portfolio.