An Overview of MilliporeSigma

A collaborative result of Merck Millipore and Sigma-Aldrich, MilliporeSigma is an industry-leading company that specializes in providing products and services in three specific life science business areas:

• Research solutions
• Process solutions
• Applied solutions

Its aim is to collaborate with the global scientific community to make research and biotech production safer, simpler and faster.

MilliporeSigma has a long history. It began as a family-run pharmacy in Darmstadt, Germany, where, in 1668, Friedrich Jacob Merck purchased the Engel Pharmacy, a second town pharmacy that evolved into the major company known as Merck. Later, in 1827, Merck transformed into a research-driven company known as “Merck KGaA”.

Enter Millipore Corporation and Sigma-Aldrich.

Millipore Corporation opened for business in 1954 and pioneered the use of membrane technology. The company was acquired by Merck KGaA in 2010, was named Merck Millipore, and became part of the EMD group. Merck Millipore was also referred to as “EMD Millipore”.

Sigma and Aldrich were founded separately in 1935 and 1951. After years of having complementary product offerings in the life science industry, Sigma International, Ltd. and Aldrich Chemical Co. joined forces to form the Sigma-Aldrich Corporation in 1975.

A major milestone for Merck was the $17 billion acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich on November 8, 2015.

After acquiring Sigma-Aldrich, Merck combined the company with EMD Millipore to create MilliporeSigma. The conglomerate’s headquarters are in Burlington, Massachusetts, United States, and has shown tremendous growth, with more than 1.5 million customers and 130 life science distribution centers (including Canada and Germany).

In this article, we will review the company profile and product portfolio of the global life science business, MilliporeSigma.

Product Portfolio

Today, MilliporeSigma, or “EMD Millipore,” offers a range of more than 300,000 products to support the life science, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology sectors. These products have applications in biotechnological manufacturing and development, laboratory research, and pharmaceutical drug therapies.

MilliporeSigma divides its product portfolio into eight main application areas. The application areas and product categories are as follows:

Analytics & Sample Preparation

• Chromatography for Analysis: To carry out analytical chromatography, MIlliporeSigma provides you with a wide range of chromatography products, including its Analytical HPLC, TLC, and HPTLC.
  
• Analytical Sample Preparation: Carry out accurate sample preparation and purification with MilliporeSigma’s selection of reliable ion exchangers, drying agents, and extraction solutions.
  
• Reagents for Pharmacopeia Analysis: High-quality analytical reagents such as acids, caustics, salts, and solvents are supplied in this category.
  
• Reference Materials: To cater to the needs of the researchers, reference texts for analytical methods are available under the trade name Certipur®. These materials are critical to monitoring accurate and precise analytical measurements. They include texts on conductivity measurements, ion chromatography, UV/VIS spectrometry, and more.
  
• Spectroscopy: To support spectrophotometric analysis, Uvasol® solvents and Centipur® UV/VIS standards are offered.
  
• Test Kits & Photometric Methods: To conduct quantitative analysis, you can find products like photometers, reflectometers, and turbidimeters in this category.

Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing

• Biotech Resource Hub: To support the drug candidate journey, detailed resources are provided for pre-clinical and clinical studies with the advantage of regulatory guidance.
  
• Vaccines: In the vaccine manufacturing process, there can be unavoidable challenges. To overcome these, MilliporeSigma has optimized process solutions, including regulatory expert guidance and high-quality products and services.
  
• Cell Therapy Manufacturing: It can be difficult to commercialize a cell therapy technique involving sophisticated products. You can find single-use mixers, single-use assemblies, ekko ™ Acoustic cell processing systems, and more in this category to help meet rigorous standards of quality and efficiency.
  
• Monoclonal Antibodies: Antibodies have become the norm for complying with regulatory requirements. The Merck Emprove® Program offers more than 400 starting and raw materials, all of which are GMP-compliant.
  
• Plasma: Fractogel® ion-exchange chromatography resins and Pellicon® single-use tangible flow filters are some of the products available, acting as a gateway to accelerate blood plasma production.
  
• Upstream Ecosystem: The upstream ecosystem consists of cell line and media platforms, cell line development, cell line, and product characterization services, single-use bioreactors and mixers, process development services, and next-generation processing programs.
  
• Viral Safety Assurance: VSA is essential to prevent, detect, and remove any adventitious agent contamination during mAbs bioprocessing. MilliporeSigma provides in-depth webinars on viral safety risk mitigation techniques and strategies.

Industrial Microbiology

• Bioburden Testing: Various methods of testing are employed for food and beverage, municipal and environment water, cosmetics, and pharma products; one of them is bioburden testing. Tests can be aided using the Milliflex Oasis® Filtration System and the Milliflex® Quantum Rapid Detection, with the advantage of other microbiological services.
  
• Culture Media and Media Fills: Culture media is a basic requirement when it comes to research involving cell culture procedures. You can find dehydrated culture media, ready-to-use liquid and solid media, granulated culture media, and more in this category.
  
• Environmental Monitoring: To prevent contamination in testing environments, MilliporeSigma provides cost-effective products for active air monitoring, surface & personnel monitoring, particle counting, and more.
  
• Mycoplasma Testing: In cell culture systems, mycoplasma contamination is a recurring problem. For the detection of contaminants, MilliporeSigma provides both compendial and rapid solutions.
  
• Pathogen & Spoilage Testing: Spoilage by pathogens is sometimes unavoidable when food and beverages are involved, so it is important to carry out testing before packaging. MilliporeSigma provides dependable, rapid, and traditional solutions for spoilage to optimize your processes.
  
• Pyrogen Testing: In the pharma industry, a Monocyte Activation Test (MAT) is performed during pyrogen testing. For this, MilliporeSigma offers its PyroDetect and PyroMAT™ systems.
  
• Sterility Testing: MilliporeSigma has been a leader in sterility testing for over 40 years. You’ll find an extensive portfolio of quality control products, preventative maintenance, training, validation support, and more in this category.
  
• Microbiology Services: Here, you’ll find services for beverage testing, environmental monitoring, pharma traditional and pharma rapid services, and more.

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IVD/OEM Materials and Reagents

• Bulk & Custom Antibodies: Find over 8,000 high-quality antibodies that can be customized to meet any specific kit or device application.
  
• OEM Membranes: In applications where venting and filtration are required, MilliporeSigma provides microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes.
  
• Clinical Diagnostics & Research: Explore a wide range of light diagnostics assay kits, infectious disease antibodies, flocked swabs, and more to improve your clinical diagnostics and research.
  
• Lateral Flow Membranes: MilliporeSigma’s Hi-Flow™ Plus nitrocellulose membrane has earned a worldwide reputation for its high consistency for both within rolls and between lots.
  
• Polymeric Microspheres & Magnetic Beads: In in-vitro diagnostics, Estapor® Microspheres is a leading brand of polymeric support. Estapor® Microspheres are one among the many polymeric microspheres you can find in this category.
  
• Contract Manufacturing Services: MilliporeSigma provides manufacturing services for antibodies, reagents, and IVD kits to ensure your products meet required standards.
  
• Blood Typing: MilliporeSigma offers the largest selection of human IgM monoclonal antibodies in various forms, from standardized intermediates to finished reagents in bulk.
  
• Microscopy: Microscopic instrumentation is a must in bacteriology, hematology, cytology, and histology. Microscopy solutions include products like stains, dyes, paraffins, staining samples, and more.

Life Science Research

• Antibodies & Assays: A range of both primary and secondary antibodies can be found in this category.
  
• Cell Culture & Systems: The cell process involves cell preparation, growth, and analysis. You can find over 20,000 high-quality tools to create reliability and consistency in your cell culture workflow.
  
• Chromatography Sample Preparation: You can find all your required resources for chromatography in this category, such as syringe filters, vacuum hardware, prefiltration membranes, and more.
  
• Drug Discovery: Advance your drug pipeline from discovery to market with MilliporeSigma’s trusted drug discovery products, including phosphoserine antibodies, active proteins, and its popular Ready-to-Assay™ frozen cells for drug screening and profiling.
  
• Filters for Particle Monitoring: To facilitate particle monitoring, you can find your required filter from a massive range of applications such as air monitoring, soil monitoring, fuel monitoring, and more.
  
• Genomic Analysis: Genetic analysis is a series of processes that include isolation, purification, cloning, transfection, and protein expression. To fulfill requirements for these, explore MilliporeSigma’s groundbreaking SmartFlare™ technology and other products for DNA prep and cloning.
  
• Inhibitors and Biochemicals: Research often involves the use of inhibitors and biochemicals. The Calbiochem® line of products offers the widest and most cited selection of inhibitors and activators worldwide.
  
• OEM, Custom, & Bulk Reagents: Reagents can be procured as OEM, custom, or bulk. Chemicon® and Upstate® are the main providers.
  
• Proteins & Enzymes: MilliporeSigma provides a wide collection of proteins and enzymes, including custom and bulk ordering options.
  
• Protein Detection & Quantification: Protein detection and quantification are carried out with the help of techniques like western blotting and electrophoresis. Its most popular product in this category is the SNAP i.d.® 2.0 System for Western Blotting and IHC.
  
• Protein Sample Preparation: MilliporeSigma facilitates every step of the sample prep workflow with magnetic beads, extraction kits, ultrafiltration devices, and more.

Reagents, Chemicals, & Labware

MilliporeSigma provides quality reagents, chemicals, and labware to ensure accurate and reproducible results and to keep your lab in standard working order. It supplies over 30,000 premium chemicals and reagents for analysis or synthesis, routine or complex applications, research or development, and even cleanliness! Products in this category are arranged by the following:

• Cleaning of Lab Equipment
  
• Inorganic Reagents
  
• Lab Filtration
  
• Organic Synthesis
  
• Novabiochem Peptide & DNA Synthesis Reagents
  
• Solvents
  
• Research Biochemicals
  
• Labware

Small Molecule Pharmaceuticals

• API Synthesis: A complete range of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) can be found in this category.
  
• Bulk API: To procure API in bulk, Millipore is backed up with a wide product portfolio with Emprove ® api, custom synthesis, folates, Trisodium Citrate Dihydrate, Urea, and more.
  
• Purification of Pharmaceutical Drugs: Once the formulation of a pharmaceutical drug is complete, it is necessary to conduct its purifications. To improve a drug’s purity, processes like chromatography, ultrafiltration, sterile filtration are carried out. You can find innovative products in areas such as single-use manufacturing, sterile sampling, process development, and more.
  
• Formulation: Meet standards easily with Millipore’s wide range of over 400 EMPROVE® grade excipients and APIs.

Water Purification

MilliporeSigma’s lab water purification system portfolio offers a wide range of ultrapure and pure systems and services designed specifically for pharmaceutical, academic, industrial, clinical, research, and government labs. Featured products include its state-of-the-art Milli-Q® IQ 7003/05/10/15 and MILLI-Q® HX 7000 SD.

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MilliporeSigma is an established life science company and manufacturer of world-class scientific products and services. With a vision to build better healthcare accessibility, this research-driven company provides solutions for your lab and production materials.

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