News Release - AHK Korea
News Release - AHK Korea
News Release - AHK Korea
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<strong>News</strong> <strong>Release</strong><br />
October 30, 2009<br />
Merck Ltd. <strong>Korea</strong><br />
Merck Advanced Technologies Ltd.<br />
Haesung-2-Bldg. 15 th Floor<br />
942-10, Daechi-dong, Kangnam-ku<br />
Seoul 135-280, <strong>Korea</strong><br />
Phone +82 (02) 2185-3800<br />
Fax +82 (02) 2185-3900<br />
http://www.merck.co.kr<br />
Your Contact<br />
Corporate Communication<br />
Soo-kyung Jeon (2185-3919 / 010-4746-3919)<br />
Mira Jung (2185-3838 / 010-8834-0522)<br />
“Merck Young Scientist Award for Bioscience” Winner Announced<br />
Inha Heo(Seoul National University) wins first place; Dr. Shin-Young<br />
Park(Hanyang University) places second<br />
Award ceremony held during the international conference of KSMBMB<br />
Seoul, October 30, 2009 – Merck Limited <strong>Korea</strong> (President: Mr. Juergen Koenig), the <strong>Korea</strong>n<br />
affiliate of Germany-based Merck KGaA, announced the first winners of its “‘Merck Young<br />
Scientist Award for Bioscience.“ The award ceremony and lectures were held October 29<br />
during the international conference of KSMBMB (the <strong>Korea</strong>n Society of Medical Biochemistry<br />
and Molecular Biology). The award was presented by Ms. Christina Shasserre, General<br />
Manager of Global Bioscience, EMD Chemicals 1 , and Mr. Hans Ahl, Senior Sales Director of<br />
Global Sales Development & Sales Operations, EMD Chemicals.<br />
In order to discover and encourage young and able talents, the Merck Young Scientist Award<br />
was first established in the USA in 2007 and is currently given out in countries such as<br />
Australia, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines etc. Merck <strong>Korea</strong> has decided to run and<br />
support the award jointly with Merck KGaA and KSMBMB, and to continue the selection on<br />
an annual basis.<br />
The first-place Merck Young Scientist Award for 2009 went to Inha Heo, a Ph.D. candidate in<br />
the Narry Kim Lab, School of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University. The entry is “T<br />
UT4 in concert with Lin28 suppresses microRNA biogenesis through pre-microRNA uridylatio<br />
n” and was published in the Ausust 2009 edition of Cell.<br />
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<strong>News</strong> <strong>Release</strong><br />
“I would like to express my thanks to Merck <strong>Korea</strong> and KSMBMB for their support and<br />
encouragement for my research. And I will strive to achieve further developments in the field<br />
of bioscience,” Inha Heo commented after the ceremony. In addition, the second-place<br />
winner, Dr. Shin-Young Park in Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, College of<br />
Medicine, Hanyang University, said that she will persevere in her efforts to be a better<br />
scientist and expressed her special thanks to professors and researchers in the same lab.<br />
The first winner’s paper details the biogenesis of microRNA Let-7. It identified a new<br />
polymerase TuT4 that causes uridinylation. TuT4 is identified as a suppressor of micro RNA<br />
production in cell and may have significance in cancer research. Let-7 is a regulator of cell<br />
proliferation and differentiation and by blocking its activity cell proliferation can be stopped.<br />
This research may also have significance in stem cell biology research because TuT4 has an<br />
important role in maintaining stem cells in an undifferentiated state.<br />
The purpose of the award is to select scientists with excellent research performance in the<br />
life science area, which is regarded as a future growth engine, and to encourage young<br />
scientists to focus on their research and bring along future star researchers who will play a<br />
pivotal role in the development of the field. With the award, Merck will further consolidate its<br />
position as an innovative partner to the life science field in <strong>Korea</strong>.<br />
1 EMD Chemicals: A Merck Group subsidiary in the United States<br />
- Life Science Solutions: Merck is one of the world’s leading suppliers of laboratory chemicals for<br />
applications in research, education and industry. The company offers a wide range of products, e.g. for<br />
analytical chromatography, microbiology, food and environmental analysis as well as pharmaceutical<br />
research. Reagents for analysis and other applications as well as solvents, salts, acids, alkalis and<br />
organic chemicals round off the portfolio. Merck offers its customers specific solutions for many<br />
different laboratory requirements so that laboratory work can be performed safely and efficiently.<br />
About Merck in <strong>Korea</strong><br />
Merck Ltd., registered in 1989, and Merck Advanced Technologies Ltd., established in 2002, are the Merck<br />
companies in <strong>Korea</strong> and operate in pharmaceutical and the chemical industries of Liquid Crystals, Performance &<br />
Life Science Chemicals such as Pigments, Life Science products and Analytics. In 1999, Merck in <strong>Korea</strong> set up its<br />
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<strong>News</strong> <strong>Release</strong><br />
<strong>Korea</strong>n pharmaceutical operation. This was integrated with Serono <strong>Korea</strong> after Merck KGaA’s acquisition of<br />
Serono S.A. in 2007. After organizing ourselves, Merck in <strong>Korea</strong> set to introduce new products step by step and<br />
will continue in the future. In addition, Merck has been increasing the number of clinical trials in <strong>Korea</strong>. Merck has<br />
a strong relation with R&D in <strong>Korea</strong>, not only in the medical area but also in the chemical field. In 2008 Merck<br />
KGaA decided to invest EUR 11 million in a new Advanced Technology Center (ATC) to improve Merck’s R&D<br />
and manufacturing capacities by providing high quality products in the rapidly increasing display market, while<br />
continuing to support customers by allowing them to achieve business success through advanced technologies<br />
and close relationship in a rapidly changing display technology. Also, this investment reconfirms Merck’s<br />
commitment and responsibility to contribute innovative solutions for the future success of the <strong>Korea</strong>n display<br />
industry. And it is now under construction and will be completed in early December, 2009.<br />
About Merck<br />
Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company with total revenues of € 7.6 billion in 2008, a history that<br />
began in 1668, and a future shaped by approximately 33,000 employees in 60 countries. Its success is<br />
characterized by innovations and tradition from entrepreneurial employees. Merck traditionally puts a long-term<br />
business beyond a generational period before a focus on a short-term profit and keeps the chemical and<br />
pharmaceutical business under the same umbrella, thereby uniting their strengths, touching on the reason for<br />
Merck to remain one of the most innovative companies for 341 years while it has been owned by a family since its<br />
origin. Merck's operating activities come under the umbrella of Merck KGaA, in which the Merck family holds an<br />
approximately 70% interest and free shareholders own the remaining approximately 30%. In 1917 the U.S.<br />
subsidiary Merck & Co. was expropriated and has been an independent company ever since.<br />
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