Merck Opens Life Science Production Plant in Ireland
Merck's first climate-neutral production facility has opened at its Blarney site in Cork, Ireland. The €150 million new building is part of the Germany-based life sciences group's €440 million investment program in Ireland.
For Merck, it is the first production facility designed for completely climate-neutral operation. The company has thus reached an important milestone on its way to becoming climate-neutral by 2040.
The 3,000m2 cleanroom facility is designed to meet global demand for filtration products essential for the manufacture of vaccines and potentially life-saving therapies, including monoclonal antibodies and new modalities such as cell and gene therapies. By expanding local capabilities in Europe, Merck aims to reduce cross-border dependencies for its customers.
“Ireland is a leading hub for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and innovation for Europe and globally. By expanding manufacturing in Cork, we reinforce our in-region-for-region manufacturing and supply model, reducing cross-border risks and providing manufacturers with reliable access to critical filtration technologies they need to deliver life-changing therapies”, said Jean-Charles Wirth, Member of the Executive Board of Merck and CEO Life Science.
Production at the new facility is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2025. In the future, filtration devices for use in aseptic processing, tangential flow filtration, and virus filtration will be manufactured there. The filtration technologies are used to maintain sterile conditions during drug production, purify biotechnologically produced drugs, and remove viral contamination from therapeutics. They therefore make a significant contribution to ensuring that medicines, through bioprocessing, meet the required purity standards, are free from impurities, and are therefore safe and effective for administration to patients.
The new plant is powered 100% by energy from renewable sources and an innovative heat recovery system, saving around 61 tons of CO2 equivalents per year. In addition, up to 95% of the high-purity reverse osmosis water from the filtration product manufacturing process will be reused.
The plant at Blarney Business Park in Cork, Ireland, is part of Merck's largest investment program to date in its Life Science business sector. The company has committed a total investment of €440 million to expand production capacity for membranes and filtration products in Ireland, split between the construction of this new production facility and the expansion of its nearby Carrigtwohill site. In 2020, Merck announced a total investment of €2 billion to increase the capacity and capabilities of the Life Science business sector. The global expansion program is designed to meet the growing demand for advanced therapies in Europe, China and the US.
