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Darmstadt (dpa) - The pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck is expanding its capacities for technologies in vaccine production.
At the French site in Molsheim, the Dax company is investing 25 million euros in a system for disposable consumables that are used in the machine production of corona vaccines and for other therapies.
In the course of this, more than 350 jobs are to be created there, as Merck announced in Darmstadt on Wednesday.
Molsheim near Strasbourg will be the first location in Europe where Merck will manufacture these single-use plastic products.
"Our new European production unit will increase the capacity for the urgently needed supply of vaccine and therapeutic drug manufacturers with single-use products worldwide," said Merck Deputy CEO Belén Garijo.
The unit in Molsheim is scheduled to go into operation by the end of 2021. The project at the site, where more than 1,700 employees work for Merck, was announced in the presence of EU Commissioner Thierry Breton and French Industry Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
"In recent years, numerous biopharmaceutical manufacturers have switched to single-use technologies due to the greater flexibility, cost and time savings and the lower risk," said Chris Ross, interim head of the laboratory division at Merck.
The pandemic has accelerated the trend and ensures high growth.
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Merck benefits greatly from research on Covid vaccines in its laboratory supplies division.
The division supplies more than 50 corona vaccine developers worldwide and is involved in more than 35 test solutions and 20 programs on Covid-19 therapeutics.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210317-99-863494 / 2
Merck press