Interview with Dr. Gözde Dalkılıç Kaya of Merck

We had a pleasant conversation with Dr. Gözde Dalkılıç Kaya, Marketing Manager responsible for the MENAT region covering the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, Turkic Republics and Turkey at Merck's Life Sciences Division, which traces its history back many years, about the merger of leading industry companies Merck and Sigma-Aldrich and the products they have offered to the sector.

Could you briefly tell our readers about yourself, your education and professional background?

I completed my bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering at Istanbul Technical University, and my master's and doctorate degrees in Food Engineering at the same university; I also completed my MBA at Işık University in 2015. After completing my undergraduate education, I worked as an academic at ITU for 7 years. Later, I decided to move to the private sector. I have been working at Merck for 6 years. Currently, I serve as Marketing Manager responsible for the MENAT region covering the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, Turkic Republics and Turkey in Merck's Life Sciences Division.

Could you briefly provide information about Merck's history dating back centuries and its product groups?

Merck KGaA, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company serving through different business divisions such as life sciences, healthcare and performance materials. Founded in 1668, Merck currently employs approximately 40,000 people in 66 countries. Life Sciences, one of Merck's 3 divisions, offers more than 300,000 products through Research Solutions, Applied Solutions and Process Solutions. Our products are designed to meet our customers' needs, accelerate innovation, and provide unique services and expertise. With our innovative equipment and laboratory products, we facilitate and accelerate research and biotechnology production processes in the life sciences field, making them more successful. Our Research Solutions portfolio is focused on solutions that provide scientific discovery, biological functions, better understanding of disease and scientific research. Some of our more than 210,000 products and services include life science reagents and kits, inhibitors and biochemicals, antibodies, multiplex assay sets, separation and workflow equipment, instruments, software and classical laboratory chemicals. Our Applied Solutions portfolio includes product and workflow solutions that simplify processes, reduce costs and provide consistent reliable results, solutions for applications and analyses in industrial, environmental and clinical markets, and raw materials. Some of our more than 62,000 products and services include laboratory pure water systems, consumables and services, microbiology and bio-monitoring, analytical reagents and standards, sample preparation and chromatography, flow cytometry kits and instruments. Our Process Solutions portfolio offers products that comply with the highest quality and purity standards with comprehensive documentation services that ensure regulatory compliance. Among our more than 15,000 products and services are single-use manufacturing, filtration, chromatography and purification, viral reduction, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical raw materials, drug delivery compounds, engineering and validation services.

What changes took place with the merger of Sigma-Aldrich and Merck?

With Sigma-Aldrich, a world leader in life sciences and advanced technology, being acquired by Merck in 2014, we became a single company. By creating a broader portfolio of more than 300,000 products containing many of the sector's most respected brands and the opportunity to reach a wider geography, we gained the privilege of becoming the leading supplier in the global life sciences sector. One of the biggest innovations beginning with this merger was the launch of the new Merck brand identity.

Could you describe your new brand identity that has undergone fundamental change?

Our logo, the symbol of our corporate identity, has created a change not only in visual appearance but also in our vision. Our company, which has undergone a change process in recent years, has emphasized through its new concept and vision that it is a leading science and technology company in the world. This change, on the other hand, forms an important part of the strategic transformation and growth program for 2018, the year we will celebrate our 350th founding anniversary. Division brands such as Merck Millipore and Merck Serono under the Merck brand have been united with a single and common "Merck" corporate logo. We will simplify the brand architecture at different business lines such as healthcare, life sciences, and performance materials and operate under a single Merck identity, with the exception of the United States and Canada. In the United States and Canada, solely for these countries, we will be known as EMD Serono, EMD Performance Materials and MilliporeSigma.

Returning to the merger of Sigma-Aldrich and Merck, what developments do you expect in business areas?

The product portfolios of both companies, the geographies they dominate and their competencies complement each other. While Research Solutions mainly address laboratories and universities, Process Solutions serve pharmaceutical companies, and Applied Solutions serve clinical and diagnostic laboratories, food and environmental laboratories. Geographically, Merck now has the opportunity to distribute research products to places where Sigma-Aldrich was previously well-known, such as North America.

So which sectors do you primarily serve in Turkey?

In Turkey, we serve the pharmaceutical, food, beverage, environmental, chemical, biotechnology, energy, cement, public, clinical-diagnostic, automotive, cosmetics, mining sectors and all laboratories. Our products consist of raw materials used in production, quality control and R&D stages, research chemicals and reagents, pure water systems and other consumables.

Could you provide information about Merck's structure in Turkey?

Our Life Sciences division in Turkey has been operating since 2009. As of 2016, the regional center for Life Sciences from the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, Turkic Republics and Pakistan regions, MENAT+, has been Istanbul. One of the main reasons Turkey is important for Merck is Europe's rapidly growing economy. Another reason is the country's strategically important geographical location. With its growing economy, we serve not only our own domestic market but also the markets of Middle Eastern and Turkic Republics countries. The vast majority of our products in the Turkish market are sold through our distributors.

Could you provide information about your environmental policy and sustainability approach?

When manufacturing our products, we try to cause as little harm to nature as possible. Safety, environmental protection and quality management are absolutely the most vital values in this regard. For this reason, we have established regulations, strategies and organizational structures applied at all Merck facilities within our corporate environmental safety framework. We carry out all our activities within our environmental management system. In doing so, while reducing the emissions and waste we release into nature, we also ensure the protection and sustainability of limited resources such as energy, water and raw materials. Process safety is the most important prerequisite here.

When it comes to laboratories, safety measures come to mind. Is there any work Merck is conducting on this matter?

One of the most important factors for Merck is human health. In a high-risk area like a laboratory, high sensitivity must be shown to this issue. In addition to chemicals, our portfolio includes safety reagents used for laboratory safety. Merck offers inorganic reagents and chemicals that can be used in many different applications. At the core of all of these lies a single common point: they are as natural as possible and are manufactured with the highest quality standards. Our products aim to simplify your daily work and make it safer and more sustainable. Our Extran® laboratory cleaner products are ideal for residue-free cleaning of your equipment. Chemizorb® comes to the rescue in cleaning spilled liquids. Spillage of hazardous chemicals is an event that can happen in any laboratory. With Chemizorb®, you can quickly and safely remove harmful, aggressive and unwanted liquids. In addition to these prominent products, transportation and storage equipment for safely carrying your solvents and reagents, as well as automatic and manual pumps and connection equipment for easy handling, are also among our safety products.