Germany-based Merck KGaA (Merck) has completed its previously announced acquisition of the chromatography business of JSR Life Sciences.

This follows the company’s signing of a definitive agreement in October 2025 to acquire the business.

The deal adds advanced Protein A chromatography capabilities and Amsphere Protein A resins to Merck's downstream processing portfolio for monoclonal antibody purification.

Protein A chromatography is essential for the purification of antibodies and therapeutic proteins, which are utilised in the treatment of autoimmune disorders, cancers and infectious diseases.

The addition is intended to support scalable purification and reliable manufacturing from development through commercial scale.

Furthermore, the acquisition adds the chromatography operations in Belgium and a team of more than 50 employees, supplying solutions to biotech and pharmaceutical manufacturers worldwide.

Merck said that the business will be integrated into its process solutions portfolio, which provides support to customers in biopharmaceutical manufacturing from the development of processes to complete manufacturing.

Merck process solutions, life science business head Sebastián Arana said: “This acquisition expands our downstream purification capabilities at a time when customers are pushing to scale biologics faster and more efficiently.

“With expanded Protein A offerings, we can help customers strengthen process consistency, support reliable manufacturing at scale, and ultimately accelerate access to critical therapies.”

Merck currently employs over 62,000 people and generated sales of €21.1bn ($24.4bn) in 2025 across 65 countries.

In November 2025, the company signed a drug discovery collaboration with Valo Health, becoming the latest big pharma to enlist the services of the tech company to identify the next big therapeutic.