Sigma-Aldrich, headquartered in St Louis in the US, is already the world's largest supplier of biochemicals and organic chemicals to research laboratories, clocking up sales of $2.7 billion last year.

Merck will now sell the range of life science products, from basic science tools and reagents ... said the firm had a “clear commitment” to St. Louis, Missouri, where Sigma-Aldrich is based. According ...

(Corrects third to last paragraph to say "the erosion from LOEs (loss of exclusivity)", not "from LOEs (levels of evidence)") ...

Merck KGaA, the German healthcare and technology group, is in advanced talks to acquire U.S. cancer and rare diseases ...