Merck KGaA has inaugurated its EUR 170 million ($189 million) pharmaceutical plant in Nantong, China, which will produce pharmaceuticals on China’s Essential Drug List, a colleciton of drugs chosen by the Chinese government determined to be essential to China’s healthcare system .Merck KGaA also announced a further investment of approximately EUR 80 million ($89 million) in a Life Science Center near the Nantong pharmaceutical plant to manufacture high-purity inorganic salts, cell-culture media products as well as ready-to-use media.

The initial EUR 80 million ($89 million) investment in the pharmaceutical plant was announced in 2013 and has been realized. An additional investment of EUR 90 million ($100 million) represents the next phase of the company’s pharmaceutical production plans for China to meet forecast increased demand for medicines to be produced at the site. The first drugs from the plant are expected to be delivered in the second half of 2017. Along with the investment of approximately EUR 80 million ($89 million) by the life-science business sector of Merck KGaA, this adds up to a total of investment of EUR 250 million ($278 million) in its production value chain in China.

The Nantong pharmaceutical manufacturing site will focus on the production of Glucophage (metformin), Euthyrox (levothyroxine), and Concor (bisoprolol), drugs respectively to treat diabetes, thyroid disorders, and cardiovascular diseases. With the next investment of EUR 90 million ($100 million), the facility is designed to accommodate full production capacity of up to 10 billion tablets a year by 2021.The pharmaceutical manufacturing site currently employs 180 people, and the workforce is expected to increase to more than 400 by 2021.

Source: Merck KGaA