Merck, a leading science and technology company, has announced plans to build a new, €18 million laboratory facility in Buchs, Switzerland to support the company’s rapidly growing reference materials business. The company anticipates that about two dozen jobs will be created.

"Researchers in testing labs around the world use Merck’s reference materials every day to help generate accurate, reliable analytical results in pharmaceutical, environmental and food and beverage analysis,” said Jean-Charles Wirth, head of Applied Solutions, Life Science at Merck. “This new laboratory will allow us to continue to drive innovation in diagnostics and testing and expand our research and development of analytical standards.”

Completion of the three-story, 1,125-square-meter Buchs building is scheduled for December 2021 and the move is planned for early 2022. The modern, flexible workplace design, to include laboratory and office space, is aimed at fostering a collaborative environment for its 40 employees, some of whom will move from the existing, heavily utilized building. The new facility will offer a more efficient way of working for current and future employees in research and development, analytical production and quality control. The laboratory area can be adapted to new requirements in the future, including increased site capacity.

Founded in 1950, the Buchs location is one of the Life Science business’ most important research and development centers. Today, around 450 people are employed at the site. Here, certified reference materials, analytical standards and reagents, building blocks and bioanalytical reagents are produced for Merck’s global academia, industrial research and quality control laboratory customers. The site also develops and manufactures raw materials for pharmaceutical manufacturing under Good Manufacturing Practices, as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients. The location serves as a main down-filling hub for the Life Science business of Merck.

About Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 57,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck generated sales of €16.2 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials.

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