Merck Serono Announces First Employment Initiative for Employees Affected by Restructuring in Switzerland

GENEVA, June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

• Biopharmaceutical services company Quintiles commits to make at least 100 employment offers exclusively to Merck Serono employees

Merck Serono, a division of Merck in Darmstadt, Germany, announced today a first employment initiative for its employees affected by the restructuring of its operations in Switzerland. Quintiles, the world's leading biopharmaceutical services company, has committed to make at least 100 employment offers within the next three months to Merck Serono employees primarily working in the Global Development & Medical function in Geneva. These offers will be made exclusively to Merck Serono employees.

"We have a long-standing relationship with Quintiles, and we are very pleased that at least 100 of our Geneva-based employees will be offered the opportunity to work with this trusted partner," said François Naef, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Merck Serono S.A. "We will continue our discussions with a wide range of third parties to identify additional job opportunities for affected employees. We hope to announce other initiatives in the near future."

"We are always looking for highly qualified drug development experts with extensive biopharma industry experience, such as those we now have the opportunity to add from Merck Serono," said Paula Brown Stafford, President of Clinical Development for Quintiles. "This is another example of our ability to help biopharma companies transform to succeed in the New Health. By adding excellent employees from Merck Serono, we can put their talents to use on expanded clinical work with Merck Serono, and also make their expertise available to other biopharma companies. This is one way Quintiles is helping improve the efficiency, quality and speed of clinical development."

Quintiles will soon hold an information session for Merck Serono employees and will conduct job interviews at Merck Serono's facilities in Geneva starting in early July 2012. Quintiles' job offers will include positions primarily in fields such as clinical operations, biostatistics, clinical research, and drug safety. Merck Serono and Quintiles will make a transition easy by applying a pragmatic and flexible approach to exit and hiring dates, taking into account employees' preferences as well as business requirements. The locations of those positions will be determined in a collaborative manner, including options in the Lake Geneva area, but also home-office solutions.

Merck Serono continues to explore further collaborations with strategic partners that may result in additional employment opportunities for its Geneva-based employees.

About Merck Serono

Merck Serono is the biopharmaceutical division of Merck. With headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Merck Serono offers leading brands in 150 countries to help patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, infertility, endocrine and metabolic disorders as well as cardiovascular diseases. In the United States and Canada, EMD Serono operates as a separately incorporated subsidiary of Merck Serono.

Merck Serono discovers, develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines of both chemical and biological origin in specialist indications. We have an enduring commitment to deliver novel therapies in our core focus areas of neurodegenerative diseases, oncology and rheumatology.

About Merck

Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company with total revenues of €10.3 billion in 2011, a history that began in 1668, and a future shaped by more than 40,000 employees in 67 countries. Its success is characterized by innovations from entrepreneurial employees. Merck's operating activities come under the umbrella of Merck KGaA, in which the Merck family holds an approximately 70% interest and free shareholders own the remaining approximately 30%. In 1917 the U.S. subsidiary Merck & Co. was expropriated and has been an independent company ever since.

For more information, please visit http://www.merckserono.com or http://www.merckgroup.com