Merck Serono to invest Euro 65 mn for R&D facility expansion in Germany

 
“When complete in 2017, we will offer our employees in research an open and modern environment that fosters collaboration and innovation across disciplines. With this building, we are sending out another signal that the Darmstadt site will continue to serve as a core R&D hub for Merck,” said Kai Beckmann, member of the executive board of Merck.
 
Belen Garijo, executive board member of Merck and CEO Healthcare, opined, “Over the next few years, we are poised to deliver the innovation discovered in our own laboratories to patients in need around the world. By continuing to invest in R&D with the expansion of our scientific infrastructure in Darmstadt, we are creating new opportunities for future discoveries that will bring value to patients and to Merck.”

 
The new building will unite different functions within R&D discovery technologies at Merck Serono, including molecular pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, molecular interactions and biophysics, protein engineering and antibody technologies, and protein and cell sciences.
 
The research building, when complete in fall of 2017, will be located within the new Pharma Square on the Merck campus in Darmstadt. Merck is thus uniting a significant part of its R&D activities in a single area, creating ideal conditions for the advancement of its biopharmaceutical pipeline.
 
Approximately 2,000 scientific and clinical development professionals work across Merck Serono’s four R&D hubs in Darmstadt (Germany), the largest R&D site; Boston (US); Tokyo (Japan); and Beijing (China). The core areas of R&D focus for Merck Serono are oncology, immuno-oncology, and immunology.