Merck KGaA will shell out 300 million euros ($321 million) to build a new research center at the pharma giant’s headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.
The 18,000-square-meter Advanced Research Center will investigate solutions for manufacturing antibodies, mRNA applications and additional products required for biotechnological production, the company said in an April 24 press release. The new center is expected to employ about 550 workers when it is completed in early 2027.
The new research center is part of the company’s Darmstadt expansion program, which is expected to reach 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) by 2025.
“With this strategic investment, we are strengthening our company’s leading position in key technologies for the development and manufacture of novel medicines,” Belén Garijo, executive board chair and CEO of Merck KGaA, said in the release. “As a leading provider of life science technologies, we continue to invest in research and development ‘Made in Germany’.”
The facility is expected to be an “almost carbon-neutral research” operation and will feature photovoltaics, geothermal energy and air-source heat pumps to provide its energy supply. The company said that specially designed building facades and green roofs will also contribute to energy savings.
Merck KGaA recently reported its first revenue decrease in six years with global sales sliding 6% to 21 billion euros ($22.7 billion) in 2023.
Much of the slippage was attributed to the company’s Life Science sector, which provides development and manufacturing services and equipment for biopharma companies and researchers. The unit saw an 11% drop in revenue to 9.281 billion euros ($10 billion) last year—a trend many CDMOs have experienced in the post COVID-19 pandemic era.