Merck Expands U.S. Life Science Manufacturing Capacity with €40 Million Investment

Darmstadt, Germany, December 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Merck KGaA, a leading science and technology company, today announced a total investment of €40 million in its production facilities in Danvers, Massachusetts, and Jaffrey, New Hampshire, USA, to expand its manufacturing operations. These sites supply critical products to customers developing life-saving therapies, including COVID-19 vaccines, and provide products and services to the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The expansions will significantly increase capacity and output at these facilities by the end of 2021 and the end of 2022, respectively, and create nearly 700 new manufacturing jobs.

“The global COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased demand for our single-use products and virus filtration technologies. We are currently providing these technologies to more than 50 companies engaged in the development of candidate vaccines for COVID-19,” said Chris Ross, interim head of Merck’s Life Science business. “These investments will strengthen our global manufacturing operations, enabling us to meet this unprecedented demand and help deliver life-saving vaccines and therapies to more patients more quickly.”

This expansion will add 6,000 square meters of space for the disposable product assembly business to Danvers' existing 11,000-square-meter facility. The expansion will increase the required capacity to support, including MerckMobius^®Disposable Consumablesmanufacturing of multiple product portfolios, including . The total investment in Danvers amounts to approximately €21 million, and will create around 400 new jobs by 2021.

Jaffrey’s expansion plan includes adding 2,300 square meters to the existing 24,000-square-meter facility. The additional capacity will encompass new production lines and equipment to support the manufacturing of filtration equipment and membrane products, particularlyDurapore^®Filter Membrane、Express^®Filter MembraneandViresolve^®Product Series. These products are used to ensure the sterility of numerous life-saving therapeutic drugs and to eliminate viral contamination in various pharmaceuticals. The total investment in Jaffrey amounts to approximately €18.5 million. Upon completion of the expansion, it is expected to create nearly 275 jobs by 2022.

These expansions, combined with the life sciences investments announced in 2020, will further enhance capabilities and capacity in Buchs, Switzerland; Carlsbad, California, USA; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; and Darmstadt, Germany, thereby expanding the company’s global manufacturing operations.

For more information on the company’s contributions to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit:https://www.merckgroup.com/en/company/press/press-kits/corona-pandemic.html

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