Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, and p-Chip Corporation, a company that is revolutionizing the tracking of physical products and materials with its breakthrough microtransponder technology, today announced the conclusion of a joint development agreement to develop and implement a new solution that offers never-before-seen levels of digital trust in machine-to-machine (M2M)-connected industrial value chains.

"The processes and technologies that power product development are evolving rapidly," said Bill Eibon, CTO of p-Chip Corporation. "But methods for monitoring those processes need to keep up with production technology. This agreement will advance visibility, traceability and quality assurance to a level that is not only revolutionary, but also absolutely necessary for the machine-powered realities of our modern industrial value chains."

The blockchain solution of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is a patented technology that allows anchoring digital data with real-world objects by leveraging crypto anchors to create crypto objects and therefore creating digital twins. p-Chip microtransponder technology is used as a digital twin enabler for Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany empowering Digital Twin features like digital traceability, human-machine collaboration, and complex processes automation through Smart Contracts.

The joint development agreement focuses on advancing M2M visibility and communication among thousands of companies and vendors.

About p-Chip Corporation

Since 2017, p-Chip Corporation has revolutionized the tracking of physical products and materials with its breakthrough microtransponder technology. Highly durable and small as a grain of salt, its p-Chip crypto anchor functions like a digital twin for physical items, delivering breakthrough visibility and security at a scalable price point. From pharmaceuticals to electronics, automotive components to agricultural ingredients, companies worldwide rely on patented p-Chip microtransponders to unlock business intelligence, protect brand and product integrity, and enhance revenue. To learn more, visit www.p-chip.com.

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. More than 60,000 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 2021, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 19.7 billion in 66 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.