Constructed on 43,000㎡ in Dungok District with 430 Billion Won... Largest Scale Among Foreign Companies Entering Daejeon
Mayor Lee Jang-woo: "Together with Merck, Daejeon Will Become a Global Bio Hub"
Merck Germany held a groundbreaking ceremony for the bioprocessing production center on the 29th in the Dungok District of Daejeon. / Daejeon City
Multinational science and technology company Merck broke ground on a bio-processing production center in Daejeon on the 29th. Merck's production center is the largest in terms of area and investment among foreign companies entering Daejeon.
On the morning of the same day, Merck Life Science held a groundbreaking ceremony at the Dungok District in Yuseong, attended by Mayor Lee Jang-woo, CEO Matthias Heinzel, Jung In-gyo, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Georg Wilfried Schmidt, German Ambassador to Korea.
Merck's Asia-Pacific Bio-Processing Production Center will be a production facility for raw materials used in bioprocessing, built on a 43,000㎡ (approximately 13,000 pyeong) site in the Dungok District. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026 and will support process development, clinical stages, and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals for pharmaceutical bio companies and biotech firms across the Asia-Pacific region.
Merck plans to invest 430 billion KRW to build the center, marking the largest investment Merck has made targeting the Asia-Pacific region to date. The city expects that about 300 jobs will be created by the end of 2028.
Matthias Heinzel, CEO of Merck Life Science, stated, "Korea hosts numerous institutions that perform outstanding research, manufacturing, and services in the field of biopharmaceutical development," adding, "The bio-processing production center will provide momentum to further activate the life sciences industry in Korea and the broader Asia-Pacific region."
Lee Jang-woo, Mayor of Daejeon, said, "The meeting of Daejeon, which is densely populated with excellent professionals and companies, and Merck marks the beginning of a world-class bio hub surpassing Boston," and added, "Daejeon City will leap forward as a pivotal base leading the development of the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industry along with the establishment of Merck's bio-processing production center."
Following the groundbreaking ceremony, Merck signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) to foster innovation and technology creation in the advanced bio sector.
Meanwhile, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, Merck operates in healthcare, life sciences, and electronics sectors, recording sales of 21 billion euros (approximately 30.1978 trillion KRW) last year across 66 countries worldwide.
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