German pharma giant Merck KGaA unveiled a 35 euro million expansion of its biosafety testing facilities in Scotland.
The project will create about 500 jobs when completed, the company said.
The investment is being done through the global conglomerate's life sciences division MilliporeSigma. The latest expansion pushes Merck KGaA’s investment in global testing capacity over the 350 million euro ($374 million) mark in just the past year, the company said in a May 31 press release.
The two Scottish locations targeted for expansion are located in Glasgow and Stirling. With the additional hires, the workforce at those sites is expected to top 1,200 employees.
Biosafety testing is integral for drug developers and manufacturers as it assures safety and efficacy of products while meeting regulatory requirements.
“We remain committed to ensuring the safety of the world's medicines through our state-of-the-art testing solutions for our customers around the world that drive new treatments,” Dirk Lange, MilliporeSigma’s head of life science services, said in the release.
At the core of the project is a new, 1,200-square-meter facility in Glasgow that will house molecular biology and sequencing services. The company said it also plans to expand testing capacity in its current buildings with biosafety testing, analytical development, and viral clearance suites.
Just over a year ago, Merck KGaA revealed plans to pump nearly a half a billion dollars into building up its membrane manufacturing capacity in Carrigtwohill and construct a new filtration manufacturing plant at Blarney Business Park, both of which are in Cork, Ireland. More recently, the company has invested in expanding its Rockville, Maryland, and Shanghai, China, testing operations.
Merck KGaA has said that it plans to boost sales to about 25 billion euros ($27 billion) by 2025. To meet that goal, the company said it would “significantly” increase its total investments through the middle of the decade.