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Science and technology company Merck Oy has joined the CleverHealth Network (CHN) ecosystem which is led by HUS Helsinki University Hospital. Visa Manni, medical director of Merck Oy in Finland, says that the upcoming CHN collaboration supports the company’s strategic direction, particularly in projects related to fertility treatments and digital health.
A long tradition and global expertise
Merck Oy is part of the Merck Group, the world’s oldest pharmaceutical company. Its story started already 350 years ago in Germany. The company’s three main business areas are pharmaceuticals, life science, and electronics. Merck operates in 66 countries and has been present in in Finland for 48 years through two companies: Merck Oy (pharmaceuticals) and Merck Life Science Oy.
According to Visa Manni, Merck’s healthcare division in Finland has invested especially in fertility treatments, oncology and neurology. Merck is an active partner in Finnish healthcare. The company strives to improve patient care together with other actors in the field and also aims to help Finnish companies internationalise through its global networks. For example, last autumn Merck Oy, together with Business Finland, took 20 Finnish researchers and start-up leaders on a study trip to its headquarters in Germany.
Focus on digital healthcare applications and innovation
In recent years, Merck has especially invested in digital healthcare solutions, such as digital biomarkers and smart dispensing devices. Artificial intelligence and digital applications have become an important part of the company’s development work. Finnish expertise has also been recognised internationally, and people from Merck’s Finnish organisation have progressed to global roles.
Collaboration with CHN partners is particularly concrete in a project related to fertility treatments, through which Merck wants to contribute its local expertise and international resources to the ecosystem.
Collaboration brings new perspectives
Visa Manni explains that Merck has been following CHN’s activities for a long time, and now a concrete project has been found to initiate cooperation. “We expect the ecosystem to expose us to new ideas and perspectives, as well as give us an opportunity to jointly solve already identified challenges,” Manni says.
Merck brings to the network not only local personnel and research resources, but also the expertise and contacts of a global company. In Finland, Merck conducts research to serve healthcare, such as real-life evidence from registries, service innovations and patient pathway development, while larger development trials and early-phase research are the responsibility of the company’s global organisation.
Openness and practical impact
Co-development within the ecosystem enables exposure to new ideas, and according to Manni, openness is the most important starting point for the creation of new innovations. Visa Manni envisions the collaboration as follows: “I hope to see practical impact on Finnish healthcare, as CHN enables scientific dialogue in both directions. It would be wonderful if, even by small steps, we could develop Finnish patient care through this cooperation.”
More information: merckgroup.com
Visa Manni, Medical Director Finland
visa.manni @ merckgroup.com
Johanna Bexar-Hannula, General Manager & Managing Director
johanna.bexar-hannula @ merckgroup.com
Merck Finland & Baltics (ad interim)
