Merck Welcomes ZEISS and Hamilton Thorne as New Members of the Global Fertility Alliance

DARMSTADT, Germany, June 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Not intended for U.S. based media  

• New partners are joining founding members Merck, Illumina and Genea to support standardization of processes in assisted reproductive treatment laboratories 
• Update on the alliance's activities to be presented at ESHRE 

Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced together with Illumina Inc., San Diego, US, and Genea Limited, Sydney, Australia, that the Global Fertility Alliance welcomed two new members. The alliance is a collaboration to advance excellence in fertility technologies and processes within the assisted reproductive treatment (ART) laboratory. Effective immediately, ZEISS, Oberkochen, Germany, an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the optics and optoelectronics industries, and Hamilton Thorne Ltd., Beverly, Massachusetts, US, a leading provider of precision laser devices and advanced image analysis systems for ART, regenerative medicine and developmental biology research markets, are joining the alliance and its quest to improve the consistency in ART laboratories worldwide. Following the announcement of the alliance's formation at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), an update on the alliance's activities will be presented at this year's ESHRE in Helsinki, Finland (3-6 July, 2016).

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"Through our work with the fertility community, we know that ART outcomes strongly depend on routines and technologies applied in laboratories. As such, we are committed to overcoming current variation in ART practices and techniques," explained Rehan Verjee, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Merck's biopharma business. "We are working in the alliance to support the development of global standards in ART laboratories. We understand this as a critical factor for ensuring a consistently high level of performance across centers and countries, ultimately supporting the goal of women and couples of having a baby."