Merck Millipore was the brand used by

Merck Group The Merck Group, branded and commonly known as Merck, is a German multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, with about 60,000 employees and present in 66 countries. The group includes around 250 companies; the ma ...

's (not US-based Merck & Co.) global life science business until 2015 when the company re-branded. It was formed when Merck acquired the Millipore Corporation in 2010. Merck is a supplier to the life science industry. The Millipore Corporation was founded in 1954, and listed among the

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of ...

since the early 1990s, as an international

bioscience ''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–19 ...

s company which makes

micrometer Micrometer can mean: * Micrometer (device), used for accurate measurements by means of a calibrated screw * American spelling of micrometre The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; ...

pore-size filters and tests. In 2015, Merck acquired

Sigma-Aldrich Sigma-Aldrich (formally MilliporeSigma) is an American chemical, life science, and biotechnology company that is owned by the German chemical conglomerate Merck Group. Sigma-Aldrich was created in 1975 by the merger of Sigma Chemical Company a ...

and merged it with Merck Millipore. In the United States and Canada, the life science business is now known as MilliporeSigma.About Us, EMD Millipore + Sigma-Aldrich = MilliporeSigma, The life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
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History

Founding

In the early 1950s, Lovell Corporation won a contract from the U.S. Army Chemical Engineers to develop and manufacture membrane filtering devices used to separate the molecular components of fluid samples. When the membranes were declassified in 1953 and offered for commercial use, Jack Bush, son of

Vannevar Bush Vannevar Bush ( ; March 11, 1890 – June 28, 1974) was an American engineer, inventor and science administrator, who during World War II headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), through which almost all wartim ...

and a Lovell employee, bought the company's technology for $200,000 and established the Millipore Filter Company. Bush coined the word millipore to refer to the numerous tiny openings in the microporous membrane product. The term " millipore", originally a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...

, has since come into generic use, referring to any of several filters, made from

cellulose acetate In biochemistry, cellulose acetate refers to any acetate ester of cellulose, usually cellulose diacetate. It was first prepared in 1865. A bioplastic, cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some coatings, ...

membranes, capable of removing very small particles. Later the company changed its name to Millipore Corporation to reflect its growing range of products. In 2010,

Merck KGaA The Merck Group, branded and commonly known as Merck, is a German multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, with about 60,000 employees and present in 66 countries. The group includes around 250 companies; the ma ...

the world's oldest chemical and pharmaceutical company, acquired Millipore Corporation to form EMD Millipore.

Filters

By 1959, Millipore made porous membrane filters of

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides ...

s or other materials which resembled paper in sheet form, and were brittle when dry but

friable Friability ( ), the condition of being friable, describes the tendency of a solid substance to break into smaller pieces under duress or contact, especially by rubbing. The opposite of friable is indurate. Substances that are designated hazardous, ...

when wet.Bassett (1959). "''Peripheral Nerve and Spinal Cord Regeneration: Factors Leading to Success of a Tubulation Technique Employing Millipore''". Experimental Neurology 1: 386–406 Filters consisted of

nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...

membrane A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. ...

nucleopore filters ranging from

pore Pore may refer to: Biology Animal biology and microbiology * Sweat pore, an anatomical structure of the skin of humans (and other mammals) used for secretion of sweat * Hair follicle, an anatomical structure of the skin of humans (and other m ...

size of 0.2 μm (

) to 20 µm. Modern filters are

polyvinylidene fluoride Polyvinylidene fluoride or polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) is a highly non-reactive thermoplastic fluoropolymer produced by the polymerization of vinylidene difluoride. PVDF is a specialty plastic used in applications requiring the highest pur ...

and/or

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins an ...

based.

Growth

By 1970, Millipore had established subsidiaries in seven countries. The company opened manufacturing plants in

Jaffrey, New Hampshire Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,320 at the 2020 census. The main village in town, where 3,058 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place (CDP) a ...

;

Molsheim Molsheim () is a commune and a subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

, France; Cork, Ireland; and other locations. Millipore's 2006 acquisition of Serologicals Corporation provided entry to high-growth markets for drug discovery products and services, antibodies, cell biology reagents, and stem cell research. As of the late 2000s, Millipore was the only company providing both upstream cell culture and downstream separations offerings for biopharmaceutical production.

Timeline

1950s

* 1954: Jack Bush purchases the rights to a new membrane-production process developed by Lovell Chemical Company. Millipore Filter Corporation is incorporated and Bush becomes president, and later chairman * 1955: Millipore receives its first patent, for microporous

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pet ...

film invented by Stanley Lovell and Jack Bush

1960s

* 1964: opens first subsidiary, in France * 1967: introduces the Super-Q water purification system * 1967: establishes German subsidiary * 1968: establishes Japanese subsidiary * 1968: introduces Pellicon cassette product, for purifying biotherapeutics

1970s

* 1971: introduces the original Millex

syringe filter A syringe filter (sometimes called a wheel filter if it has a wheel-like shape) is a single-use filter cartridge. It is attached to the end of a syringe for use. Syringe filters may have Luer lock fittings, though not universally so. The use of ...

—the first disposable syringe filter * 1972: opens subsidiary in Spain * 1972: opens a manufacturing plant in

. * 1973: starts manufacturing in

Molsheim Molsheim () is a commune and a subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

, France * 1973: introduces the Milli-Q water purification system, the first lab-scale ultrapure water system * 1978: reaches $100 million revenue * 1978: opens manufacturing plant in

Danvers, Massachusetts Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the renowned beaches of Glo ...

* 1979: acquires Waters Associates Inc., a producer of chromatographic media and

High-performance liquid chromatography High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), formerly referred to as high-pressure liquid chromatography, is a technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on pumps to pa ...

instrumentation

1980s

* 1980: introduces low-protein binding Durapore

membrane * 1987: listed on the New York Stock Exchange * 1987: achieves $500 million revenue * 1988: opens membrane manufacturing plant in Cork, Ireland

1990s

* 1994: divests its Waters Chromatography Division to focus on its membrane business * 1996: acquires Amicon separation sciences business from W. R. Grace and Company * 1997: acquires Tylan General, expanding its gas purification offerings for the microelectronics industry * 1999: acquires Bioprocessing Limited, a developer and manufacturer of chromatography

2000s

* 2001: spins off its Microelectronics Division (30% of its revenue), that becomes Mykrolis, which will merge with Entegris in 2005 * 2002: opens Biopharmaceutical Technology Center in Billerica, Massachusetts * 2005: acquires MicroSafe, a European contract testing laboratory * 2005: acquires NovAseptic, supplier of aseptically designed components for biotech and pharmaceutical production * 2005: forms alliance with Gen-Probe to develop, manufacture and commercialize products for rapid microbiological and virus monitoring * 2006: acquires Newport Bio Systems, a maker of process containers and systems used in biopharmaceutical production * 2006: acquires Serologicals Corporation (including the companies Chemicon, Upstate, Linco, and Celliance), expanding its drug discovery and development footprint * 2006: opens a new Research and Development Center in

Bedford, Massachusetts Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,383 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History ''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on informatio ...

* 2007: launches its new brand * 2008: expands drug discovery and development facility in St. Charles, Missouri * 2008: opens membrane casting manufacturing facility in

Carrigtwohill Carrigtwohill, officially Carrigtohill (), is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of 5,080 (2016). It is 12 kilometres east of Cork city. It is connected to Cork Suburban Rail and is bypassed by the N25 road. Carrigtwohill is o ...

, County Cork, Ireland * 2009: acquires Guava Technologies, a provider of bench top cell analysis systems * 2009: opens Biomanufacturing Sciences and Training Center in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

* 2009: acquires BioAnaLab, a European-based firm specializing in the analysis of biologic drugs and vaccines * 2010: Merck KGaA acquires Millipore, which will be part of the EMD Group * 2015: Merck completes $17 billion acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich, combining EMD Millipore and Sigma-Aldrich to create life science company MilliporeSigma

Financial history

Millipore Corporation had been publicly traded on the OTC, or

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

, exchange where it had paid a cash

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-inv ...

to shareholders every year since 1966.Standard & Poor's Stock Guide, various issues In 1987 Millipore Corporation moved from the NASDAQ exchange to the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

, where it traded under the ticker symbol MIL. Millipore Corporation was on the

list of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States until it was acquired by

Merck kGaA The Merck Group, branded and commonly known as Merck, is a German multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, with about 60,000 employees and present in 66 countries. The group includes around 250 companies; the ma ...

in 2010. The deal was valued at approximately EUR 5.3 billion (US$7.2 billion). Merck KGaA is not associated with Merck & Co., although the two companies stem from the same parent company.

References

Sources

* https://cen.acs.org/articles/93/web/2015/11/merck-kgaa-completes-sigma-aldrich-acquisition.html

External links

Millipore Corporation web site
* http://www.emdmillipore.com/US/en {{Coord, 42, 32, 18.3, N, 71, 16, 59.8, W, display=title 1954 establishments in Massachusetts Companies based in Burlington, Massachusetts Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Life sciences industry Life science companies based in Massachusetts Merck Group Technology companies established in 1954