Merck KGaA : Positions itself with New Suprima® Quality Brand for High-Quality Effect Pigments

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Nina Diergardt
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January 14, 2014 Merck KGaA Positions itself with New Suprima® Quality Brand for High-Quality Effect Pigments

 Unique quality concept with added value for customers

 With its umbrella brand Suprima®, Merck KGaA is a pioneer in the pigment industry

 Launched with four high quality products for coatings applications and cosmetics

Darmstadt, Germany, January 14, 2015 - With Suprima®, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is the first pigment manufacturer to launch a quality brand that groups several selected products under one umbrella. What makes Suprima® different is that customers not only receive relevant quality guarantees, but also a comprehensive dossier which contains a wealth of evaluations, specifications and measurement data in a compact form. This is of appreciable added value to customers. "With Suprima®, we are setting a new quality standard that perfectly meets the rising demands of our customers - particularly in the automotive and cosmetics industries," explains Alexander Peters, Head of Global Marketing for decorative pigments within the Pigments & Functional Materials business unit at Merck KGaA. "The advantage of the dossier is that customers can access detailed regulatory and analytical data and in so doing obtain a competitive advantage in their own markets." The new umbrella-brand concept is initially targeted at regulated markets such
as cosmetics and coating applications.

Merck KGaA

Group Communications Performance Materials Phone: [phone]

Frankfurter Strasse 250 Fax: [phone]

64293 Darmstadt E-mail: [e-mail] www.emdgroup.com www.emd-pm.com

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News Release Dossier facilitates the work of coating manufacturers

In the field of coating applications, two new products - Meoxal® Wahiba Orange and Meoxal® Taklamakan Gold - will be marketed under the Suprima® quality brand. Existing product names will remain. A special dossier will be supplied for high-quality pigments under the Suprima® umbrella. This precisely records that these pigments are free of silicone impurities. It also shows what steps Merck KGaA has taken to ensure the products are silicone-free such as, for example, testing packaging material and auxiliairies. In addition, the Suprima® concept encompasses the specification of coloristic data. It delivers exact color values based on "Delta Lab measurements". This makes it possible to quantify colors accurately as industrial standards for all customers. Furthermore, Merck KGaA supplies all Suprima® products in anti-static packaging. These three most significant differentiating factors will cut time and costs for customers. The fact that the product is silicone-free guards against production errors, detailed color data can save customers from carrying out internal measurements, and the anti-static packaging simplifies use in a manufacturing environment. In addition, the dossier offers customers the benefit of receiving all the information in a single document: from the safety data sheet right through to the weathering test.

Cosmetic manufacturers benefit from the high standards

For the cosmetic market, Merck KGaA is launching the Ronastar® Golden Jewel and Ronastar® Noble Sparks products under the Suprima® umbrella. Once again, three main factors differentiate these products from other brands. Firstly, Merck KGaA has set the highest purity standards with regard to the heavy metal content. Using tailored "full digestion" test methods, Suprima® products are examined in great detail. The resulting measurements relating to the twelve most relevant heavy metals are documented in the dossier. Secondly, Merck KGaA fully complies with the latest GMP standards of the European Federation for Cosmetic Ingredients (EFfCI) for cosmetic raw materials. The products manufactured at the Gernsheim (Germany) and Savannah (USA) production sites meet the stringent EFfCI requirements. Thirdly, the quality brand's dossier contains comprehensive coloristic data, which makes it easier for customers to evaluate the effect pigments.
Merck KGaA is planning gradually to market additional high quality effect pigments under the Suprima® name. The umbrella brand represents the highest quality standards and is

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News Release

set to expand to specialist applications for example those that bring the product into contact with skin or with food products.

Merck KGaA is one of the world's leading suppliers of effect pigments for the coatings, plastics, printing, cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries. Effect pigments underscore the emotional impact of color and are an important design element when creating surfaces with special impressions or qualities. Application possibilities range from cars to packaging and high-tech products up to building facades. In addition to decorative effect pigments, Merck KGaA offers pigments that also have functional applications such as heat - reflecting or anti-counterfeiting pigments. For the cosmetic industry Merck KGaA offers effect pigments for color cosmetics as well as a wide range of active ingredients used in skin care cosmetics, e.g. insect repellents or ingredients against UV radiation and premature aging. You can find more information on our products at our Website.

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and EMD Chemicals

Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, is a leading company for innovative and top-quality high-tech products in the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. Its subsidiaries in Canada and the United States operate under the umbrella brand EMD. Around 39,000 employees work in 66 countries to improve the quality of life for patients, to further the success of customers and to help meet global challenges. The company has six businesses - Biopharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, Allergopharma, Biosimilars, Life Science and Performance Materials - and generated total revenues of € 11.1 billion in 2013. Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company - since 1668, the name has stood for innovation, business success and responsible entrepreneurship. Holding an approximately 70 percent interest, the founding family remains the majority owner of the company to this day.

EMD Chemicals is a North American subsidiary of Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany. Worldwide there are two separate companies that bear the name "Merck", the original Merck KGaA from Darmstadt, Germany, the oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company in the world, and the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. in the United States. The rights to the name and trademark MERCK in North America (USA and Canada) lie with Merck & Co., the former U.S. subsidiary of Merck, whereas Merck KGaA operates in North America under the umbrella brand EMD and EMD Chemicals. In the rest of the world, Merck KGaA owns the rights to the Merck name and trademark. This press release was distributed by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the EMD Group Website. In case you are a resident of the USA or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribeto register again for your online subscription of this service as our newly introduced geo-targeting requires new links in the e-mail. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service.

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