Germany’s Merck Leads Smart Label Effort

Merck KGaA will head a consortium, dubbed Polytos, to develop raw materials, components, and manufacturing processes for printed organic circuits with integrated sensors. The partners aim to bring enhanced smart labels—which can detect environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, or light exposure—closer to commercial reality. Polytos will have about $20 million in funding for the three-year project, a little more than half of which is coming from the German Federal Ministry of Education & Research. Industrial partners, including Merck, BASF, and organic electronics specialist PolyIC, will provide the rest.