- Merck has opened a €70 million expansion at its Bioconjugation Center of Excellence in St. Louis, Missouri, increasing antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing capacity.
- The expansion adds approximately 3,200 square meters of new and upgraded space across process and analytical development, quality control, manufacturing support, and logistics.
Merck has opened a €70 million expansion at its Bioconjugation Center of Excellence in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The investment increases the site’s ADC manufacturing capacity and is intended to support customers as their therapies progress from early development toward clinical and commercial production.
The expansion includes approximately 3,200 square meters of new and upgraded space covering process and analytical development, quality control, manufacturing support, and logistics. The additional capabilities will support programs advancing toward late-stage and commercial scale while creating capacity for customers earlier in development.
Merck said the investment expands U.S.-based manufacturing capacity as drug developers seek greater supply-chain resilience and specialized capacity for highly potent bioconjugates. ADCs are a heavily outsourced modality, according to the company, with demand concentrated in North America.
Merck said it was the first CDMO to manufacture a commercially approved ADC in the U.S. Its St. Louis facility has supported more than 100 ADC investigational new drug applications and more than 160 distinct ADC constructs through bioconjugation services. The experience covers ADC molecules requiring different combinations of antibodies, linkers, payloads, and conjugation approaches.
“The ADC pipeline is growing rapidly, creating demand for experienced partners that can support increasingly complex programs from early development through commercialization. By combining additional capacity with more than 15 years of ADC CDMO expertise, this expansion strengthens our ability to help customers advance promising therapies and bring them to patients.”
Paolo Carli, Head of Advanced Solutions for the Life Science business of Merck
