Merck Serono (EMD Serono in the United States and Canada) is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in

Darmstadt, Germany Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse aft ...

, and a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

and division of Merck focused on biopharmaceuticals. In September 2006,

Merck KGaA The Merck Group, branded and commonly known as Merck, is a German Multinational corporation, multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, with about 60,000 employees and a presence in 66 countries. The group include ...

announced its intent to purchase the majority of

Serono Serono was a biotechnology company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It was acquired by the German pharmaceutical company Merck in 2006. The company was founded as the Serono Pharmacological Institute by Cesare Serono in 1906 in Rome, Ital ...

shares from Ernesto Bertarelli and the Bertarelli family. The Merck-Serono merger was announced on 21 September 2006. Merck KGaA and Serono operated as distinct entities until at least January 2007. As of 5 January 2007, Merck held the majority shares of Serono. The new company is called Merck Serono international SA. In 2012, Merck Serono moved its headquarters from Geneva, Switzerland to Darmstadt. Drugs they market include Erbitux, UFT,

Rebif Interferon beta-1a (also interferon beta 1-alpha) is a cytokine in the interferon family used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). It is produced by mammalian cells, while interferon beta-1b is produced in modified ''E. coli''. Some research indic ...

, Mavenclad, Novantrone, Gonal, Ovidrel/ Ovitrelle, Zorbtive, Luveris, Saizen,

Serostim Serostim (recombinant DNA somatropin) is Serono's brand name prescription drug form of synthetic growth hormone, marketed for HIV-associated wasting. In December 2007, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts - in a class-action lawsuit that invo ...

, Glucophage, Concor and Euthyrox. Raptiva was withdrawn in 2007. In the U.S. and Canada, Merck Serono is known as EMD Serono, as the former Merck subsidiary Merck & Co. holds the rights to the name Merck in those countries.

Collaborative research

In addition to internal research and development activities Merck Serono with the help of Toledana, is also involved in publicly funded collaborative research projects, with other industrial and academic partners. One example in the area of non-clinical safety assessment is the InnoMed PredTox. The company is expanding its activities in joint research projects within the framework of the Innovative Medicines Initiative of EFPIA and the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

Notes and references

External links

Merck Serono company website

EMD Serono
{{Authority control Merck Group

Collaborative research

Notes and references

See also

External links