Follitropin Alfa (Merck)

AMSTERDAM, July 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This randomized, controlled trial was conducted at a tertiary IVF center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Between January 2023 and June 2023, 120 women were randomized. Eligible women were aged 18–37 years with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). After providing written informed consent, participants were randomized (1:1) to undergo CAPA-IVM with or without FSH-priming. Participants in the FSH-priming group received two days of recombinant FSH (rFSH) injections before oocyte pick-up; no rFSH was given in the non-FSH group. All retrieved cumulus oocyte complexes underwent biphasic in vitro maturation (CAPA-IVM). Matured oocytes underwent fertilization through ICSI procedure, and were cultured to blastocyst stage followed by vitrification. Participants underwent a single blastocyst transfer during a frozen replacement cycle. The primary endpoint was the number of matured oocytes. The number of matured oocytes after CAPA-IVM did not differ significantly between the non-FSH and FSH groups (13 [9; 18] vs. 14 [7; 18]; absolute difference –1 [95% confidence interval –5, 4]). There were also no significant between-group differences in other oocyte and embryology outcomes, including the number of cumulus-oocyte complexes, number of fertilized oocytes, total number of blastocysts and good blastocysts, and total number of frozen embryos. The live birth rate was 38.3% in the non-FSH group and 31.7% in the FSH group, with no statistically significant difference. The miscarriage rate at <12 weeks’ gestation was 5.0% in both groups. Maternal complications were infrequent and occurred at a similar rate in the non-FSH and FSH groups; there were no preterm deliveries before 32 weeks’ gestation. The study results were presented by Dr. Tuong M Ho at the 40th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) on July 9th, 2024 in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and have been submitted for publication in a leading reproductive medicine journal. Prof Dr Lan Vuong from The University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City and MyDuc hospital, HCMC, Vietnam, who led the study, said: “This randomized controlled trial with 120 patients proves that CAPA-IVM without rFSH priming is as effective as two days of rFSH priming. With a live birth rate of 38% for single blastocyst transfer CAPA-IVM achieved a similar live birth rate than standard IVF with 8-10 days of rFSH treatment. This is great news and a milestone achievement. The data supports our belief that women with PCOS are suitable for a complete gonadotrophin free, alternative fertility treatment.” About CAPA-IVM CAPA-IVM is a novel approach to in-vitro maturation of oocytes recovered after no or minimal ovarian stimulation, that incorporates a capacitation step in the maturation of oocytes in vitro which enhances oocyte developmental competence. CAPA-IVM is a patient-friendly assisted reproductive technology method that may become an alternative option to conventional ovarian stimulation and IVF, with reduced treatment burden in some selected groups of patients. The worldwide rights to the CAPA-IVM technology are owned by Lavima Fertility, Inc. Lavima Fertility is developing a medical device for future application of this technology. www.lavimafertility.com For more information:André Rosenthal andre.rosenthal@lavimafertility.comJohan Smitz johan.smitz@lavimafertility.com

Financial results of Q1 2024 Healthcare with strong performance Electronics increases sales and earnings organically, driven by higher demand for semiconductor materials Inventory destocking in Life Science continues; sales recovery expected in the second half of the year Net sales down organically by 1.2% to € 5.1 billion EBITDA pre decreases organically by 5.2% to € 1.5 billion Forecast for fiscal 2024 Qualitative guidance confirmed with Group returning to organic growth Net sales: in a range of € 20.6 billion to € 22.1 billion, organically +1% to +5% EBITDA pre: in a range of € 5.7 billion to € 6.3 billion, organically +1% to +7% Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, has had a good start to fiscal 2024. The Healthcare business sector performed strongly. Electronics also delivered solid organic sales growth, mainly driven by Semiconductor Solutions. Life Science recorded sales and earnings declines compared with the particularly high base of the year-earlier quarter. In the first quarter of 2024, thanks to the sound business performance and compared with the high base of the first quarter of 2023, Group sales decreased by only 3.3% (organically: ‑1.2%) to € 5,120 million. Foreign exchange effects, mainly from the Chinese renminbi, had a negative impact of 2.0% on the sales development. EBITDA pre fell by 8.4% (organically: ‑5.2%) to € 1,454 million. Negative foreign exchange effects impacted EBITDA pre by 3.2%. The EBITDA pre margin was 28.4% in the first quarter of 2024 and earnings per share pre were € 2.06. “We had a good start to the year and gained initial momentum in the first quarter of 2024, once again benefiting from our diversified business model,” said Belén Garijo, Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “We expect acceleration in the second half of the year, especially in Life Science, and thus a gradual return to organic growth for the Group in fiscal 2024.” Life Science: Decline in first quarter against high comparables, in line with expectation of a softer first half of the year Net sales of the Life Science business sector declined organically by 12.6% against the particularly high base of the first quarter of 2023. Foreign exchange had a negative impact of 1.2% on the sales development. Overall, sales of the business sector decreased by 13.8% to € 2,144 million in the first quarter of 2024. The main reason for this was the continued inventory destocking by customers of Process Solutions. Net sales of this business unit declined organically by 19.0%. As a positive signal, order income in Process Solutions increased sequentially as well as year-on-year. The company expects customers to reach their target inventory levels by the end of the second quarter of 2024. However, due to the manufacturing and delivery times for products ordered by customers, this will significantly increase sales only in the second half of the year. In addition to inventory destocking, the phase-out of Covid-19-related demand was also a headwind for the business development of Life Science in the first quarter of 2024. Compared with the high year-earlier figure, EBITDA pre of Life Science decreased organically by 30.3% and amounted to € 611 million. This was due, among other things, to the lower sales volume and the lower share of higher-margin products sold. The EBITDA pre margin of the business sector was 28.5%, a sequential increase against the 26.3% EBITDA pre margin in the fourth quarter of 2023. Healthcare: Double-digit organic sales growth of “Wave 1” products, further supported by strong performance of established product portfolio The Healthcare business sector performed strongly across all franchises in the first quarter of 2024 amid the market recovery in mainland China, where the year-earlier quarter had been adversely affected by the high rate of Covid‑19 infections. Sales of Healthcare rose organically by 10.1%. Including negative foreign exchange effects of 2.6%, sales increased overall by 7.5% to € 2,048 million. The “Wave 1” products Bavencio (+14.2%) and Mavenclad (+12.2%) achieved double-digit organic sales increases. The oncology drug Erbitux delivered very strong organic sales growth of 19.3%, boosted by the softer year-earlier comparables in mainland China. Net sales of the Fertility (+7.7%) and Cardiovascular, Metabolism & Endocrinology (+4.2%) franchises also rose organically. EBITDA pre of Healthcare went up organically by 28.3% to € 708 million, supported by the regaining of the exclusive worldwide rights to Bavencio and strong sales momentum. The EBITDA pre margin was 34.6%. Electronics: Positive start to the year, full market inflection still expected in the second half of the year Electronics delivered solid organic sales growth of 6.3%. This was particularly driven by Semiconductor Solutions, the sector’s largest business unit, which grew organically by 7.8%. The main reason for this was increased demand for certain semiconductor materials, for example materials used for leading-edge logic chips. However, the Group does not yet view this as a general inflection point, since demand in other end markets remained soft. The other two business units, Display Solutions (+4.2%) and Surface Solutions (+1.8%), also recorded organic sales increases. Amid negative foreign exchange effects of 3.2%, sales of the Electronics business sector rose overall by 3.1% to € 928 million. EBITDA pre increased organically by 3.9% compared with the year-earlier quarter. Due to negative foreign exchange effects of 4.2%, the earnings development saw a slight decline by 0.3% to € 237 million overall. The EBITDA pre margin of Electronics was 25.5%. Forecast for fiscal 2024: Qualitative guidance confirmed with Group returning to organic growth In fiscal 2024, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, expects to return to organic sales and earnings growth for the Group. In particular, the company assumes the following development, in line with its qualitative guidance provided in March 2024: Net sales: in a range of € 20.6 billion to € 22.1 billion with organic growth of +1% to +5% and foreign exchange effects of ‑3% to 0%. EBITDA pre: in a range of € 5.7 billion to € 6.3 billion with organic growth of +1% to +7% and negative foreign exchange effects of ‑4% to ‑1%. EPS pre: € 8.05 to € 9.10. Overview of the key figures for Q1 2024 Group Key figures € million Q1 2024 Q1 2023 Change Net sales 5,120 5,293 -3.3% Operating result (EBIT) 1 931 1,035 -10.0% Margin (% of net sales) 1 18.2% 19.6% EBITDA 2 1,385 1,491 -7.1% Margin (% of net sales) 1 27.0% 28.2% EBITDA pre 1 1,454 1,587 -8.4% Margin (% of net sales) 1 28.4% 30.0% Profit after income tax 699 800 -12.5% Earnings per share (€) 1.60 1.83 -12.6% Earnings per share pre (€) 1 2.06 2.36 -12.7% Operating cash flow 1,035 853 21.4% Net financial debt 3 7,498 7,500 – Number of employees 4 62,345 64,011 -2.6% 1 Not defined by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). 2 Not defined by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); EBITDA corresponds to operating result (EBIT) adjusted by depreciation, amortization, impairment losses, and reversals of impairment losses. 3 Figures for the reporting period ending on March 31, 2024, prior-year figures as of December 31, 2023. 4 Figures for the reporting period ending on March 31, 2024, prior-year figures as of March 31, 2023. This figure refers to all employees at sites of fully consolidated entities. Life Science Net sales by business unit € million Q1 2024 Share Organic growth 1 Exchange rate effects Acquisitions/ divestments Total change Q1 2023 Share Science & Lab Solutions 1,169 55% -6.9% -1.5% – -8.4% 1,276 51% Process Solutions 817 38% -19.0% -1.1% – -20.0% 1,022 41% Life Science Services 157 7% -16.6% – – -16.7% 188 8% Life Science 2,144 100% -12.6% -1.2% – -13.8% 2,487 100% 1 Not defined by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Healthcare Net sales by major product lines/products € million Q1 2024 Share Organic growth1 Exchange rate effects Total change Q1 2023 Share Oncology 500 24% 19.3% -3.8% 15.5% 433 23% thereof: Erbitux ® 287 14% 19.3% -4.3% 15.0% 250 13% thereof: Bavencio ® 186 9% 14.2% -2.8% 11.4% 167 9% Neurology & Immunology 419 20% 8.8% -1.5% 7.3% 390 20% thereof: Mavenclad ® 261 13% 12.2% -2.0% 10.2% 237 12% thereof: Rebif ® 158 8% 3.7% -0.9% 2.8% 154 8% Fertility 383 19% 7.7% -3.3% 4.4% 366 19% thereof: Gonal-f ® 204 10% 6.8% -3.5% 3.3% 197 10% Cardiovascular, Metabolism and Endocrinology 689 34% 4.2% -2.4% 1.7% 677 36% thereof: Glucophage ® 221 11% 5.1% -3.7% 1.4% 218 11% thereof: Concor ® 140 7% 1.6% -3.6% -1.9% 142 7% thereof: Euthyrox ® 139 7% 8.9% -1.7% 7.2% 130 7% thereof: Saizen ® 89 4% 17.0% -0.2% 16.7% 76 4% Other 57 3% 38 2% Healthcare 2,048 100% 10.1% -2.6% 7.5% 1,905 100% 1 Not defined by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Electronics Net sales by business unit € million Q1 2024 Share Organic growth 1 Exchange rate effects Acquisitions/ divestments Total change Q1 2023 Share Semiconductor Solutions 633 68% 7.8% -3.0% -0.1% 4.7% 604 67% Display Solutions 187 20% 4.2% -4.3% – -0.1% 187 21% Surface Solutions 109 12% 1.8% -2.2% – -0.4% 109 12% Electronics 928 100% 6.3% -3.2% -0.1% 3.1% 901 100% 1 Not defined by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Notes to editors: The press conference for media representatives will take place at 9:30 a.m. (CEST). The respective presentation and further information for journalists, including a digital press kit , can be found here The quarterly statement can be found here Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, on LinkedIn Photos and videos can be found here Stock symbols Reuters: MRCG, Bloomberg : MRK GY, Dow Jones : MRK.DE Frankfurt Stock Exchange : ISIN : DE 000 659 9905 – WKN : 659 990 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/subscribe to register for your online, change your selection or discontinue this service. About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. Around 63,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2023, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 21 billion in 65 countries. The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark “Merck” internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare and EMD Electronics in electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company’s technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company.