German science and technology company Merck KGaA has announced a €62m ($66.6m) investment to construct a new quality control facility for its Life Science business at its Darmstadt headquarters.
The investment is part of a larger €1.5bn initiative to expand the site's capabilities by 2025.
The new facility will centralise 135 employees from different departments into a collaborative environment.
Scheduled for completion by mid-2025, the 10,000m² building will play a crucial role in ensuring the safety of Life Science products.
Quality control is vital in the research, discovery and manufacturing of therapeutics, and products must be tested for purity as well as to identify and remove harmful substances.
Merck's Life Science business operates 25 specialised labs for these processes.
The new facility aligns with sustainability goals and will meet the German Sustainable Building Council's gold standard.
Features include self-sufficient regenerative energy generation, low-CO₂ construction and compliance with stringent safety requirements for genetic engineering and biology laboratories.
The new labs will also adhere to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.
Merck Life Science business quality and regulatory management head Robert Nass stated: “Quality plays an essential role in our purpose to impact life and health with science. The quality, compliance and business support are fundamental to our innovative Life Science products, services and digital offerings and make us a trusted partner to our stakeholders.
“Our new quality control facility reflects our commitment to deliver the highest quality and safest products to our customers and the patients they serve.”
The announcement follows the recent opening of the company’s expanded Life Science distribution centre in Schnelldorf, representing an investment of €180m.
The expansion has doubled the facility's size, adding 25,000m² to bolster the company's ability to meet growing demand for critical drugs and contribute significantly to public health.
