Merck Serono Supports Cancer Patients in the Lake Geneva Area

GENEVA, Switzerland, September 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

For the fifth consecutive year, Merck Serono employees participated in the Paddle for Cancer Dragonboat Festival, a local event designed to help cancer patients in the Lake Geneva region

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany, announced today employee participation in the Paddle for Cancer Dragonboat Festival 2011. This boat race organized yearly since 2007 by the English Speaking Cancer Association(ESCA) on the Lac de Joux, aims to increase public awareness of the difficulties faced by patients suffering from cancer, and to raise financial funds for the association. Beyond these objectives, this event provides an opportunity to encourage cancer patients to fully live their lives in spite of the disease.

This year, forty Merck Serono employees from the Geneva, Aubonne, Coinsins and Corsier-sur-Vevey sites took part in the race organized on September 4, 2011. In the framework of its sponsorship policy, and as a partner to this event, Merck Serono not only covered the entry fees for the two boats manned by its employees but also sponsored a further two boats with representatives from cancer patient associations.

"Providing support to patients is an integral part of Merck Serono's mission. By participating each year in local initiatives such as Paddle for Cancer, we feel that our employees help offer hope to patients in their ability to overcome their disease," declared Dietmar Eidens, Head of Human Resources at Merck Serono. "In addition, through their enthusiastic participation in these initiatives, our employees can make a personal contribution to the causes they hold dear."

Every year, Merck Serono supports several patient associations and research foundations within its core therapeutic areas. These include the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Society and the European Leukodystrophy Association (neurodegenerative diseases), as well as the Dr Dubois-Ferrière Dinu Lipatti Foundation, the English Speaking Cancer Association and the Swiss Cancer League (oncology).

About Merck Serono

Merck Serono is the biopharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a global pharmaceutical and chemical company. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, Merck Serono discovers, develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines of both chemical and biological origin in specialist indications. In the United States and Canada, EMD Serono operates as a separately incorporated affiliate of Merck Serono.

Merck Serono has leading brands serving patients with cancer (Erbitux®, cetuximab), multiple sclerosis (Rebif®, interferon beta-1a), infertility (Gonal-f®, follitropin alfa), endocrine and metabolic disorders (Saizen® and Serostim®, somatropin), (Kuvan®, sapropterin dihydrochloride), (Egrifta®, tesamorelin), as well as cardiometabolic diseases (Glucophage®, metformin), (Concor®, bisoprolol), (Euthyrox®, levothyroxine). Not all products are available in all markets.

With an annual R&D expenditure of over € 1bn, Merck Serono is committed to growing its business in specialist-focused therapeutic areas including neurodegenerative diseases, oncology, fertility and endocrinology, as well as new areas potentially arising out of research and development in rheumatology.

About Merck

Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company with total revenues of € 9.3 billion in 2010, 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 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.