MilliporeSigma Expands Production Capacities

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Dec 07, 2020, 08:00 ET

New England expansions to significantly increase capacity to meet unprecedented demand
Combined expansion of Danvers, Massachusetts, and Jaffrey, New Hampshire, facilities to create nearly 700 new positions
2020 investments total more than $400 million

BURLINGTON, Mass., Dec. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MilliporeSigma today announced the broadening of its manufacturing footprint with a combined $47 million investment at its production facilities in Danvers, Massachusetts, and Jaffrey, New Hampshire. These sites supply critical products to customers developing lifesaving therapies, including Covid-19 vaccines, as well as provide products and services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. These expansions will significantly increase capacity and output at these facilities in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and create nearly 700 new manufacturing positions.

MilliporeSigma's expansions, combined, are expected to create nearly 700 new jobs in New Hampshire and Massachusetts

"The global coronavirus pandemic has significantly increased demand for our single-use and virus filtration technologies, which we are supplying to more than 50 different companies working on Covid-19 vaccine candidates," said Chris Ross, interim CEO, MilliporeSigma. "These investments will strengthen our global manufacturing footprint, allowing us to meet this unprecedented demand and help get lifesaving vaccines and therapies to more patients, faster."

This expansion will add 65,000 square feet of space to the Danvers single-use assembly operations, adding to the existing 120,000-square-foot facility. The expansion will add the capacity needed to support the manufacturing of products across several portfolios, including MilliporeSigma's Mobius^® single-use consumables. The total investment in Danvers is about $25 million and will add approximately 400 jobs throughout 2021.

The Jaffrey expansion plans include adding 25,000 square feet to the existing 260,000-square-foot facility. The additional capacity includes new production lines and equipment to support the manufacturing of filtration devices and membrane products, specifically Durapore^®filters, Express^® filters, and the Viresolve^® product lines. These products are used to ensure the sterility of many lifesaving therapies and to remove viral contamination for a variety of therapies. The total investment in Jaffrey is about $22 million. This expansion is expected to bring nearly 275 roles by 2022, once the expansion is completed.

These expansions join MilliporeSigma's investments announced in 2020 to further enhance capabilities and capacity in Buchs, Switzerland; Carlsbad, California; Madison, Wisconsin; and Darmstadt, Germany, broadening the company's global manufacturing footprint.

More information on the company's contribution to the global Covid-19 response is available here: https://www.emdgroup.com/en/company/press/press-kits/corona-pandemic.html

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About the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
The Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as MilliporeSigma in the U.S. and Canada, has some 22,000 employees and 59 manufacturing sites worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 300,000 products focused on scientific discovery, biomanufacturing and testing services. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany completed its $17 billion acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich in November 2015, creating a leader in the $125 billion global life science industry.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 57,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene-editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany generated sales of €16.2 billion in 66 countries. The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials. Since its founding 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. For more information about Merck, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, visit www.emdgroup.com.

SOURCE MilliporeSigma