Merck KGaA purchased private Indian firm Bangalore GeNei in 2009 but decided at the beginning of this year to close down the company. Production ended on July 31.
The company made molecular biology reagents and kits for working with DNA and RNA.
A spokesperson told BioPharma-Reporter.com Merck Millipore made the decision “to focus on its core businesses building on the inherent strengths in genomics, proteomics, cell culture, cell analysis, western blotting, disease research tools, analytical sample preparation and bio chemicals.”
Thirty-nine full-time employees and twelve contract personnel have lost their jobs.
Merck in India
Merck told us despite the closure, India remains a “priority market”.
In January Merck Millipore began an extension to a separate plant in Bangalore which manufactures products for small and large molecule drugs for Indian and foreign markets.
“The plant has a domestic manufacturing and Export Oriented Unit (EOU) serving both international and domestic customers. It is the only location for Merck Millipore manufacturing Standard Tangential Flow Filtration and Chromatography Purification systems,” said spokesperson Rekha Bijoy Kumar. The site houses Merck’s Provantage process development services and contract biomanufacturing space.
“Merck Millipore had in June 2014 launched its new process solutions formulation laboratory in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, its first outside Europe. Merck Millipore is well placed for the needs of the market in India,” added Bijoy Kumar.
Last year, Merck acquired biomanufacturing materials firm Sigma-Aldrich for $17bn.