News Release

December 12, 2011

Contact: Geoffrey Schwartz Phone: +1 951-514-4223 Email: geoffrey.schwartz@merckgroup.com

EMD Millipore Launches SIRTainty™ Class III HDAC Assay for Reliable and Sensitive Detection of Sirtuin Activity

• Works with variety of unlabelled acetylated peptide substrates for flexibility in assay design
• Provides almost five-fold greater sensitivity than assays dependent on a single fluorescent substrate
• Enables study of multiple sirtuin isoforms
• Eliminates artifacts resulting from use of fluorescently labeled peptide substrates

December 12, 2011, Billerica, MA — EMD Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck KGaA* of Germany, today announced the launch of the SIRTainty™ Class III HDAC Assay for detection of sirtuin activity with increased sensitivity, flexibility, and reliability.

The SIRTainty™ assay utilizes a novel, patent-pending technology for the sensitive detection of all known sirtuin family members. Unlike conventional assays that are dependent on a single, pre-labeled fluorescently tagged substrate, this new assay employs untagged acetylated peptide substrates. This design enables unparalleled flexibility in the choice of sirtuin isoform and peptide substrate, and eliminates the potential for artifacts resulting from use of artificial substrates containing bulky fluorophores.

The SIRTainty™ assay is ideal for a range of applications including:

• Assays of peptide substrate panels to determine enzyme-substrate specificity
• Screening for sirtuin activators and inhibitors and assessment of potency
• Activity comparisons of sirtuin family members
• Enzyme kinetics studies

The assay offers a limit of detection as low as 0.16U of purified sirtuin, a nearly five-fold greater sensitivity than assays dependent on a fluorescently labeled substrate. This homogenous, no-wash, 96-well format minimizes hands-on time, speeds the overall workflow and can be completed in 90 minutes.

“The SIRTainty™ assay allows researchers to reliably measure sirtuin activity using a wide variety of substrates and also greatly facilitates the discovery and characterization of sirtuin modulating compounds,” notes Dr. Basil P. Hubbard, Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School. “Previous assays have employed artificial substrates bearing large, bulky fluorophores, not found within the cell. This complication has made it difficult to translate in vitro findings on activators/inhibitors to a cellular context. Because the SIRTainty assay uses native peptides, it can be used to study the effects of previously reported modulators, and to screen for new compounds in a more physiological manner.”

For more information about the SIRTainty™ Class III HDAC Assay, please visit www.millipore.com/catalogue/item/17-10090.

About EMD Millipore
EMD Millipore is the Life Science division of Merck KGaA of Germany and offers a broad range of innovative, performance products, services and business relationships that enable our customers' success in research, development and production of biotech and pharmaceutical drug therapies. Through dedicated collaboration on new scientific and engineering insights, and as one of the top three R&D investors in the Life Science Tools industry, EMD Millipore serves as a strategic partner to customers and helps advance the promise of life science.

Headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, the division has around 10,000 employees, operations in 67 countries an 2010 revenues of $2.2 billion. EMD Millipore is known as Merck Millipore outside of the U.S. and Canada.

Note: Merck KGaA or Merck shall mean Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany