USA —MilliporeSigma’s Life Science business sector is set to invest more than US$301 million in its biosafety testing capacity at the company’s site in Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
According to the science and technology company, this will significantly increase the firm’s ability to conduct biosafety testing and analytical development services, a critical part of drug development that investigates whether pharmaceuticals are safe and nontoxic.
MilliporeSigma says global demand for these services is growing at a double-digit rate.
The expansion is the largest investment in contract testing in the company’s history, Merck KGaA CEO of life science Matthias Heinzel said in a press release.
MilliporeSigma said in the news release that it expects the expanded facility to open by 2024 and that hiring will take place over four years.
With this expansion, Merck will nearly double the number of employees at its Rockville site, creating more than 500 new jobs over the coming years.
MilliporeSigma is harnessing its broad portfolio of modern technologies and enabling services to help ensure the safety of the world’s medicines.
“These significant investments in Rockville and other sites across our global network will help us meet growing demand for the robust testing studies that biologics manufacturers depend upon to comply with stringent regulatory guidelines,” said Belén Garijo, chair of the executive board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in a statement.
Contract testing and the newly formed Millipore CTDMO Services are part of the life science services business unit, which together with the process solutions business is one of Merck’s “Big 3” growth drivers.
The company aims to increase its Group sales to approximately €25 billion (US$25.9 billion) by 2025.
The move follows several other Merck KGaA and MilliporeSigma investments in manufacturing sites in the United States and Europe this year.
MilliporeSigma invested €130 million (US$129 million) in Molsheim, France, to install more single-use assemblies for the production of Covid-19 vaccines and other therapeutics. The investment in that 50-year-old site is expected to generate approximately 800 new jobs by 2028.
These expansions are part of an ambitious, multi-year program. It aims to increase the capacity and capabilities of Merck to support the growing global demand for lifesaving medications and to make significant contributions to public health.
MilliporeSigma is the U.S. and Canadian wing of Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck KGaA, which is separate from the U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. Both companies originated in 17th-century Germany, but they split during World War I.
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