Merck acquires JSR Life Sciences chromatography business

Merck has acquired JSR Life Sciences’ Belgium chromatography business to boost its downstream process offering.

The German pharma company’s deal with JSR brings it access to the California CDMO/CRO’s Amsphere Protein A resin technology, which Merck said would complement its biologics portfolio.

Sebastián Arana, Head of Process Solutions within Merck’s Life Science business, said: “This acquisition will strengthen our position in the bioprocessing market and underscores our commitment to long-term investment in monoclonal antibody production technologies.

“By combining JSR’s Protein A expertise with our portfolio, we can further enable customers to advance the speed, efficiency and reliability of antibody therapy production.”

Protein A chromatography plays a critical role in the purification of monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins, providing manufacturing speed and reliability improvements while increasing purity and drug safety.

Tim Lowery, President of JSR Life Sciences, said: “This acquisition positions our innovative Amsphere Protein A technologies for even greater global impact under Merck’s renowned platform – enabling more customers worldwide to accelerate therapies to market with enhanced speed and confidence.”

Based in the Belgium city of Leuven, JSR’s chromatography business employs more than 50 people and works with a range of pharma and biotech companies.

The transaction is expected to be finalised by the end of the second quarter of 2026, after which it will support Merck’s production of biopharmaceutical therapies, including monoclonal antibodies.