Shenzhen, China, September 15, 2010 - Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) and BGI announced today the signing of a statement of intent to initiate and develop a working relationship. Under the agreement, Merck and BGI intend to explore areas of mutual interest in healthcare research and discovery with the common goal of creating value from the massive output of genomic information enabled by next-generation, high-throughput DNA sequencing and analysis technologies.
“This statement of intent is an initial step designed to bring together Merck’s expertise in pharmaceutical development with the powerful sequencing and bioinformatics capabilities of BGI,” said Peter S. Kim, President of Merck Research Laboratories. “The science and technology of genomics and epigenetics offer the potential to transform medicine. We are excited to move forward towards a collaboration with BGI in our efforts to advance these areas of research.”
The agreement establishes desired principles of cooperation that Merck and BGI could use to develop separate master agreements and projects. This includes the establishment of mutual offices in proximity to their respective facilities in the United States and China to enable closer collaboration between scientists from both companies.
“Great science can never be done alone, and this is a first step towards demonstrating the power of combining the scientific expertise of our two leading organizations committed to yielding the value of genomic technologies and data analysis to advancing healthcare around the world,” said Dr. Jun Wang, Executive Director of BGI Shenzhen. “Our team of research scientists and bioinformatics specialists look forward to the potential of working side-by-side with Merck’s global network of scientists as this collaboration evolves.”
Both parties intend to build the infrastructure to support collaboration in areas such as biomarkers, target validation, and drug de-risking and development, among others.
For more information about BGI, please visit www.genomics.cn and www.bgiamericas.com.
For more information about MSD, please visit www.merck.com.
About Merck /MSD
Today’s Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships that donate and deliver our products to the people who need them. For more information, visit www.merck.com.
About BGI
BGI (formerly known as the Beijing Genomics Institute) was founded in Beijing, China on September 9th, 1999 with the mission of being a premier scientific partner to the global research community. The company’s goal is to make leading-edge genomic science highly accessible through its investment in infrastructure that leverages the best available technology, economies of scale, and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI, and its affiliates, BGI Americas and BGI Europe, have established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, supporting a variety of disease, agricultural, environmental, and related applications.
BGI has established a proven track record of excellence, delivering results with high efficiency and accuracy for innovative, high-profile research that has been published to date in more than 130 top-tier academic journals. These accomplishments include sequencing one percent of the human genome for the International Human Genome Project, contributing 10 percent to the International Human HapMap Project, carrying out research to combat SARS, playing a key role in the Sino-British Chicken Genome Project, and completing the sequence of the rice genome, the silkworm genome, and, most recently, the first Asian diploid genome.
For more information about BGI please visit www.genomics.cn or www.bgiamericas.com.
Forward-Looking Statement This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the merger between Merck and Schering-Plough, including future financial and operating results, the combined company’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Merck’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: the possibility that the expected synergies from the merger of Merck and Schering-Plough will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected time period; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation; the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully; disruption from the merger making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; Merck’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; dependence on the effectiveness of Merck’s patents and other protections for innovative products; the risk of new and changing regulation and health policies in the U.S. and internationally and the exposure to litigation and/or regulatory actions.
Merck undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Merck’s 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov).
