Germany’s Merck Expands French Facility
German science and technology company Merck has announced plans to invest more than €130 million at its site in Molsheim, France, to expand capacities for single-use assemblies, a key technology for producing Covid-19 vaccines and other therapies.
The investment, which will increase capacity for making its Mobius single-use assemblies, is the largest ever in the site’s 50-year history and will create more than 800 jobs by the end of 2028. It. The new 3,500 m2 ISO7 clean rooms, administrative building and new logistics warehouse are planned to be operational by the end of 2024 and will gradually ramp up to full production through 2028.
Last year, Merck spent €25 million to add a single-use assembly production unit at Molsheim, which is the first site in Europe to make the product. “France is central to our strategy to drive long-term growth and expand our global leadership position in Life Science,” said Matthias Heinzel, member of Merck’s executive board and CEO Life Science. “In recent years, many biopharmaceutical manufacturers have turned to single-use technologies for their flexibility, cost savings, speed and reduced contamination risk, leading to double-digit market growth for this segment. The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced this trend.”
To achieve its goal of growing group sales to roughly €25 billion by 2025, the Darmstadt-based group is implementing several investment programs worldwide. Its Life Science business unit has already announced projects in Darmstadt, Germany; Buchs, Switzerland; Cork, Ireland; Wuxi, China; as well as in Carlsbad, California; Jaffrey, New Hampshire; Danvers, Massachusetts; and Verona, Wisconsin in the US.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
