Rahway-based Merck recently started construction of a $1 billion, 470,000-square-foot state-of-the-art prescription drug manufacturing facility in Wilmington, Delaware, which will become the production home of its Keytruda cancer treatment for U.S. patients.
The pharmaceutical giant, known as MSD outside the U.S. and Canada, said the “biologics center of excellence” will have laboratory, manufacturing and warehouse capacity to produce and scale next-generation medicines, including potent antibody-drug conjugates that will expand and diversify the company’s pipeline.
The Merck Wilmington Biotech site will have the capability to manufacture Keytruda (pembrolizumab), an immunotherapy drug used to treat a variety of cancers, including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, lymphoma and others. Merck said the site will become the home of Keytruda production.
“This is part of a significant investment to not only bring the world’s best-selling medicine closer to the American patients who rely on it,” the company said in its April 29 announcement.
“The Merck Wilmington Biotech site represents our continued commitment to growing our investments in U.S. manufacturing and has the potential to create thousands of high-paying American jobs while ensuring that we can produce and distribute products close to patients right here in the U.S.,” said Merck Chairman & CEO Robert M. Davis.
The new facility, located at Chestnut Run Innovation & Science Park (CRISP), will help foster growth in Wilmington’s biotechnology sector, creating more than 500 full-time roles and roughly 4,000 construction jobs.
The laboratory component is expected to be fully operational by 2028, with production of investigational compounds anticipated to start by 2030. Potential further expansion of the site would create an additional 1,500 full-time workers and 26,000 construction jobs.
With proximity to Delaware and Pennsylvania universities, Merck Wilmington Biotech will also attract talented students and professionals, supporting community growth and development, the company said in its announcement. The site’s proximity to Merck’s existing facilities across neighboring New Jersey and Pennsylvania will expand its nexus of talent and create broad and engaging opportunities for current and future Merck team members.
“The decision to build a new biologics facility in Wilmington demonstrates our commitment to advancing U.S. manufacturing and partnering in communities where our employees live and work,” said Sanat Chattopadhyay, executive vice president and president, Merck Manufacturing Division. “As a hub for life science, research and development, and pharmaceutical manufacturing, CRISP offers unparalleled opportunities for future expansion.”
Since the advent of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Merck has allocated more than $12 billion to enhance its domestic manufacturing and research capabilities, with additional planned investments of more than $9 billion over the next four years.
In March, Merck announced the completion of construction on a $1 billion, 225,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility to expand vaccine production capacity in Durham, North Carolina, generating nearly 400 full-time roles and roughly 4,000 construction jobs.
The company plans to invest $3.5 billion in biologics and small molecule manufacturing sites and capabilities in the U.S., creating an anticipated 650 additional full-time roles.
Merck said its growth across the U.S. is forecasted to create more than 37,600 construction-related employment opportunities by 2028.
Merck said it remains committed to bolstering the communities in which it operates through substantial investments in innovation in U.S. manufacturing and research and development, investing approximately $3 billion in New Jersey and Pennsylvania alone since 2018.
In that time, Merck said it has created more than 7,500 full-time U.S.-based meaningful employment opportunities, a nearly 26% increase in its workforce.
