Merck, a major science and technology company, recently inaugurated its new Asia-Pacific Bioprocessing Production Center in South Korea at Daejeon. The center is the largest life science investment by the company in the Asia-Pacific to date, representing a total investment in excess of €300 million.
It is well to be noted that the 44,500 square-meter site will expand Merck’s regional manufacturing capabilities when it comes to critical materials and solutions for the development as well as manufacturing of biologic medicines.
The fact is that it offers biopharmaceutical manufacturers in Asia-Pacific greater accessibility to the materials and solutions necessary to create and manufacture biologic medicines. Dependable access to critical materials matters at each stage of the biologics manufacturing process, said Jean-Charles Wirth, member of the Executive Board of Merck and CEO of Life Science. He adds that “Daejeon brings advanced production closer to biopharma manufacturers across Asia-Pacific, giving them greater supply confidence as they move from development to commercial scale. ” The center adds the regional capacity customers need and delivers the quality and consistency they expect from Merck.”
Merck will provide bioprocessing products that are used from early stages of process development via manufacturing at a commercial scale in Daejeon. This includes cell culture media in both dry powder and liquid formats, such as pre-GMP small-scale custom products through imMEDIAte ADVANTAGE®, process liquids, and ready-to-use cleaning-in-place solutions, as well as one-time sterile sampling solutions utilizing the NovaSeptum® Sterile Sampling System.
In tandem, they assist customers in speeding up advancement, increasing production, upholding controlled manufacturing environments, and minimizing contamination risk. Cell culture media and process liquids will be manufactured to uniform global standards of quality and made using animal-component-free raw materials.
Heo Tae-Jeong, the mayor of Daejeon, opined, “The completion of Merck’s Asia-Pacific Bioprocessing Production Center, a world-leading bioscience company, marks a historic turning point in Daejeon’s rise as a global bio hub—not just for Korea, but for the world. We will provide our full support to ensure that Merck’s foundational technologies at the Daedeok Innopolis and the capabilities of the local community can be brought together seamlessly. We will focus the city’s resources on building a world-class global bio ecosystem through close collaboration among industry, academia, research institutions, and hospitals.”
The integrated digital ecosystem of the center is designed to facilitate automated data collection and complete batch tracking, enhancing process openness, and facilitating quality management as well as regulatory compliance.
The facility is intended to reduce fossil fuel consumption on site and increase energy and water efficiency by means of the utilization of solar power, a heat-pump system, recovery of energy in air handling units, and reuse of rainwater.
The Bioprocessing Production Center in South Korea at Daejeon is an important element of the in-region-for-region strategy from Merck. This builds upon recent investments made throughout the global network of the company, which include BioReliance® drug product testing in Germany’s Darmstadt and filtration manufacturing in Blarney, Ireland. This network is used by Merck to connect key products and services more close to consumers and to adhere to uniform international quality benchmarks.