Producer
MilliporeSigma (Merck KGaA)
German science and technology company (Darmstadt; family-owned since 1668; €22B revenue); life science division (MilliporeSigma in US/Canada, Millipore globally) is the world's leading producer of pharmaceutical sterilizing-grade membrane filters under the Durapore® (PVDF), Millipak®, and Express® SHC brands. Durapore 0.22 μm PVDF filters are the industry benchmark for IV fluid sterilizing filtration — validated by virtually every major IV fluid manufacturer globally. Merck KGaA has been family-controlled since 1668 — making it the world's oldest operating pharmaceutical company (predating most European nations in their current form). The Merck family still controls >70% of shares through their foundation. The same 350-year-old German family company that supplied dyes to the First World War German army now makes the sterilizing filters that make every IV bag sterile. Note: US Merck (MSD/Merck & Co.) is a separate company that split from Merck KGaA after World War I when its US subsidiary was seized as enemy property and sold.
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Life Science (MilliporeSigma)
45%Healthcare (Prescription Drugs)
25%Electronics & Semiconductor
20%Performance Materials
10%
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Did you know2023
Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany) is the world's oldest operating pharmaceutical company — founded in 1668 by Friedrich Jacob Merck, a pharmacist who purchased an apothecary in Darmstadt that has been continuously operating ever since. The Merck family still controls more than 70% of shares through the E. Merck KG family holding company. This 350+ year family dynasty, whose company began selling medicinal herbs and tinctures in 1668, now makes the sterilizing membrane filters that keep IV bags sterile at every major hospital. Merck KGaA is also the world's leading producer of liquid crystals for LCD displays (LICRISTAL brand), a major semiconductor materials supplier (AZ Electronic Materials), and a leading producer of penicillin and steroids. The most important note: Merck KGaA (German; family) and Merck & Co. (American pharmaceutical; NYSE: MRK, known as MSD outside North America) are separate companies — the US Merck was seized as enemy property during WWI and sold; the two companies have shared the Merck name via a 1970 agreement.
Merck KGaA ↗Origin2023
Merck KGaA was established in 1668 when Friedrich Jacob Merck purchased a pharmacy in Darmstadt, Germany -- predating the American colonies, the French Revolution, and virtually every existing nation-state. The Merck family has maintained majority ownership through 356 years of European wars, revolutions, industrialization, two World Wars, and globalization. WWI created an anomaly: when the US entered the war against Germany in 1917, the US government seized Merck's American subsidiary (George Merck, who had emigrated to New York) as enemy property and sold it in 1919 -- creating the independent US Merck (now Merck & Co. / MSD), an entirely separate company sharing only the name and founding family heritage. Today, Merck KGaA (Germany) and Merck & Co. (US) are unrelated competitors that cannot use the Merck name in each other's home markets. The Darmstadt pharmacy that Friedrich Jacob Merck purchased 356 years ago is now the parent of MilliporeSigma -- maker of the sterilizing filters inside every IV bag manufactured globally.
Merck KGaA ↗