Merck KGaA to donate $1.3 million per year to academic MS research

ROCKLAND, Mass. — A German drug maker is pledging millions of dollars for multiple sclerosis research, the company's U.S. subsidiary said Thursday.

EMD Serono, part of Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck KGaA — the different name is to avoid confusion with U.S.-based Merck — said it would award up to one million euros, or $1.3 million, each year to fund innovative research into MS by academic researchers for the Grant for Multiple Sclerosis Innovation. The announcement was made at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis Congress in Lyon, France, and award recipients will be announced at the ECTRIMS conference next year in Copenhagen, Denmark.

EMD Serono will give out grant money for projects in the United States and Canada, while Merck Serono will give it out for projects elsewhere.

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