Merck & Co. has started construction for a $3-billion, 400,000-square-foot pharmaceutical manufacturing facility at its site in Elkton, Virginia. The facility will serve as a Center of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and will include both active pharmaceutical ingredient and drug-product capacity to support small-molecule drug manufacturing and testing. 

The new center is part of a $70-billion-plus US investment plan, beginning in 2025, to expand the company’s US-based manufacturing and research and development, not including any future business development transactions in R&D. The company estimates that the new center will potentially create more than 500 full-time roles as well as 8,000 construction jobs. 

This year (2025), Merck has announced nearly $6 billion in manufacturing investments across North Carolina, Delaware, Kansas, and Virginia, which it estimates will create more than 1,600 new jobs. These investments include the following:  

• In March, Merck announced the completion of construction on a $1-billion, 225,000-square-foot facility to expand vaccine production capacity in Durham, North Carolina, expected to generate nearly 400 full-time roles and roughly 4,000 construction jobs;

• In April, the company broke ground on Merck Wilmington Biotech, a $1-billion, 470,000-square-foot Biologics Center of Excellence in Wilmington, Delaware; and 

• In May, Merck Animal Health announced a $895-million expansion of its manufacturing facility in De Soto, Kansas, anticipated to create 2,500 construction jobs and more than 200 full-time commercial manufacturing roles. 

In addition, Merck says it plans to invest $3 billion in biologics and small-molecule manufacturing sites and capabilities in the US, which is expected to create more than 800 jobs, while also investing more than $3.5 billion at its headquarters in Rahway, New Jersey, which is expected to create roughly 1,000 jobs across research and clinical manufacturing.  

Source: Merck & Co.