Merck KGaA has announced an investment of EUR 150 million ($169 million) in its manufacturing site at Aubonne, Switzerland to expand manufacturing capacity for its biologic-based medicines.

The investment will cover a new building dedicated to aseptic filling and quality control. The new lines for the aseptic filling of biotech medicines will be equipped with isolator technology. One line will be dedicated to freeze-dried formulations, the other to liquid formulations. These two new lines, as well as the new quality control labs, will replace existing infrastructure with technological upgrades and higher capacity to allow production of up to 27 million vials per year.

The construction of the new building is expected to be completed in 2020, with the new quality control labs operational in 2021 and the new lines for aseptic filling in 2023, following validation by regulatory authorities.

With the sites of Aubonne and nearby Vevey, Switzerland is the prime hub of Merck KGaA for manufacturing biotech medicines. With this latest expansion, the company will have invested more than EUR 800 million ($900 million) in Switzerland over the past 10 years, where it employs 2,300 employees across 11 locations. The Aubonne and Vevey sites are part of a network of 18 manufacturing sites worldwide dedicated to the production of the company’s biotech and pharmaceutical medicines.

Source: Merck KGaA