Merck KGaA Buys Bio-Techne for $11.3 Billion Amid Pakistan Biosafety Rule Reforms

Merck KGaA has acquired US-based reagent and instrument maker Bio-Techne for $11.3 billion.

The deal brings Bio-Techne's multiomics products, analytical technologies, and integrated workflow solutions under Merck KGaA's umbrella, allowing the combined company to support customers from discovery and translational research through development, testing, and commercial manufacturing.

In a separate development, regulators in Pakistan have approved amendments to the country's biosafety rules, updating the GMO regulatory framework to a science-based and business-friendly governance system.

The new regulations simplify licensing, ease import restrictions, facilitate research, and remove the 2024 'sunset clause' that previously capped GMO imports until January 2027.