Merck, Rigaku partner to develop novel molecular structure analysis technology

The partnership creates an outstanding strategic opportunity for both companies, Merck and Rigaku to establish leading products for chemical laboratories in this market sector.

New Delhi: Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company and Rigaku Corporation, a key player in scientific analytical instrumentation, have signed a joint development agreement to develop lab consumables based on highly innovative crystalline sponge technology, which determines the absolute chemical structure of organic molecules and enables X-ray crystallography without crystallization of the analyte.

The innovative approach of crystalline sponge technology can be applied to extremely small amounts of a substance, volatiles and other non-crystallizable compounds. The project simplifies the complex technology and makes it available to chemical and life science laboratories working with pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals or natural compounds that need to determine the molecular structure of substances.

The inventor of the technology, Dr Makoto Fujita, Distinguished Professor of the University of Tokyo and the Institute for Molecular Science, continues to be involved in the project through the University of Tokyo and the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

The partnership will combine both Rigaku's proven success in the crystalline sponge area as a manufacturer and distributor of X-ray systems with the unique knowledge of innovative life science products and the analytical consumable market of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. It creates an outstanding strategic opportunity for both companies to establish leading products for chemical laboratories in this market sector.

Commenting on the partnership, Isabel De Paoli, Chief Strategy Officer at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany said, "We have licensed a new technology with the potential to help labs determine absolute chemical structure quickly, even for samples on a sub-microgram scale. Our innovation project is working on dedicated consumables that will simplify the technology to enable our customers to apply it."

"With Rigaku, we have found an extremely competent partner to develop the best devices for the technology, and we are looking forward to working together on this project, " Isabel added.

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