Serono

Serono S. A. (formerly Ares - Serono AG) was the third largest biotech company in the world with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The company was a leader in the field of reproductive medicine, with a market share of about 60 percent. Other fields were dermatology, autoimmune diseases, neurology (multiple sclerosis ) and endocrinology (growth hormones). CEO and Vice Chairman of the Board was Ernesto Bertarelli.

On 21 September 2006, announced that the company for around 16 billion Swiss francs is sold (about 10 billion euros ) to the German Merck KGaA. Since January 5, 2007, Merck has a majority stake in Serono. This was combined with the pharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA Ethicals for new pharmaceutical Merck Serono division.