The company is investing around E30m in planning, developing and constructing the plant, which will produce active ingredients and excipients, products for use in biopharmaceutical production processes, additives for the food industry and laboratory reagents.
The company said that the plant is scheduled to begin operation in mid-2011, when nearly 70 employees in inorganic chemical production will move to the new facilities.
Klaus Bischoff, head of the performance and life science chemicals division at Merck, said: “The cornerstone has been laid for a key investment in the future. As a supplier of key technologies, we want to grow along with our customers in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.
“This expansion of capacity and modernisation is our response to the growing global demand for and high requirements placed on quality and product safety for final pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical formulations. At the same time, the new plant is a strong commitment to Darmstadt as a Merck chemical production site.”