Merck KGaA opened a bioprocessing center in Daejeon, South Korea, on Oct. 29 after investing more than €300 million, expanding regional supplies of materials used to develop and manufacture biologic medicines.
The Asia-Pacific Bioprocessing Production Center will supply cell culture media, process liquids, cleaning-in-place solutions and sterile sampling products. Merck says customers can use the materials from early process development through commercial-scale manufacturing.
Merck calls the site the largest investment by its Life Science business in Asia-Pacific. The company says the facility expands regional manufacturing capacity and brings products closer to biopharmaceutical manufacturers across the region. “Reliable access to critical materials is essential at every stage of biologics manufacturing,” Jean-Charles Wirth, CEO of Merck’s Life Science business, said in the company’s announcement.
Merck forecast about 300 additional jobs by the end of 2028 when it announced the project in March 2024. Daejeon City separately expects more than 300 new jobs. Both figures are projections, not completed hiring totals.
The project followed an investment-cooperation memorandum involving Merck, Daejeon City and the South Korean government in May 2023. The city says construction began in May 2024.
The Korea Herald reported that Wirth told the newspaper in an Oct. 29 interview that Merck could add production lines within one to five years, depending on market demand. Possible additions include filtration and quality-control testing products. In the same interview, The Korea Herald reported, Wirth said a pandemic-era demand surge followed by a slowdown led Merck to apply more discipline to investment decisions and demand forecasts.
