
Merck and Roche extend distribution ties
pharmafile | December 5, 2016 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | Merck, Roche, distribution
Merck KGaA and Roche have announced that they will further increase the distribution links between the two companies by having Merck be responsible for distribution of Roche’s polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) enzyme products of Kapa Biosystems. Kapa Biosystems was acquired by Roche in 2015, in a deal that saw Roche increase its presence in next-generation sequencing (NGS) products.
Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will present and distribute Kapa PCR and quantative PCR reagents and kits. The distribution deal covers all geographic channels, except the US, Japan and Brazil. The deal does not extend to NGS products, which will remain the offering of Roche Sequencing Solutions.
Merck and Roche have previous links after Roche had agreed an exclusive distribution agreement of its Biochemical Reagents with Sigma-Aldrich in 2015. Merck then acquired Sigma-Aldrich in the same year.
The deal is expected to become active by the beginning of the next year.
“This agreement represents a powerful combination of Kapa’s high-quality PCR and qPCR products with the excellent e-commerce and distribution channels of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany,” said Uwe Oberlander, Head of Roche Molecular Diagnostics. “We believe this partnership will provide improved access to these products for researchers in many countries around the world.”
Ben Hargreaves
Related Content

Roche adds 2,176 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs to its hybrid-cloud AI factory
Roche has expanded its global AI infrastructure with a NVIDIA AI factory, adding 2,176 high-performance …

Thermo Fisher opens new distribution centre in Ireland
Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced the opening of a new 70,000sqft distribution centre in Bracetown, …

Roche receives CE Mark for blood test to help rule out Alzheimer’s
Roche has been granted CE Mark approval for its Elecsys pTau181 test, the first in …






