Merck, a leading science and technology company, has announced the opening of new, non-profit center where Indian students and researchers can learn the latest genome-editing and single-molecule biomolecule biomarker detection technologies from Merck experts.

“With the rapidly growing biopharmaceutical industry in India and demand for therapies, researchers who collaborate with us will benefit from our expertise to enhance their scientific competency and develop advanced technologies to accelerate development and production of new therapies,” said Sunil Punjabi, Country Speaker and Head of Research Solutions, Life Science, India. “They will gain hands-on experience and enhance their skills in areas such as cancer research and novel drug development, conducting real-time analysis on their samples as part of workshops here.”

The center was developed by Merck in collaboration with CSIR-IMTECH, an institute of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, under the aegis of Ministry of Science and Technology. It focuses on research, development and training in new drug discovery, affordable healthcare, fast and accurate diagnostics as well as agriculture biotechnology. Located in Chandigarh, the center augments the Indian government’s initiative for life science skill-building in the country.

Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, Director General CSIR & Secretary DSIR, said this collaboration would be a new benchmark for up scaling employability skills for graduates and post graduates who are interested in life science careers.