Merck KGaA opens new Allergopharma plant in Germany

Allergopharma, the allergy meds unit of Merck KGaA, has opened a new biopharmaceutical production plant near Hamburg.

The €42 million ($44.4 million), 6,000-square-meter (64,583-square-foot) facility was built at the current Allergopharma complex in Reinbek. It is part of a global expansion, Simon Sturge, CFO of Merck’s healthcare unit, said in a statement.

The new facility includes an entirely glass cleanroom on the 2,000-square-meter ground floor of the building. When Allergopharma announced plans for the new facility in 2013, it said about 40 jobs would be added to the site to staff the new, two-story facility, where Allergopharma will make recombinant allergens to treat conditions like hay fever and allergic asthma. About 500 employees work at the site.

The company has said this is Allergopharma’s largest investment to date and will help with its expansion into emerging countries like China as well as developed markets.