Merck to invest €440m in Ireland to expand membrane and filtration manufacturing

Merck will expand its membrane and filtration manufacturing capabilities in Ireland with an investment of around €440 million.

The pharma giant will use the investment to ramp up its membrane manufacturing capacity in Carrigtwohill as well as construct a new manufacturing plant at Blarney Business Park in Cork.

By the end of 2027, Merck’s latest investment in Ireland will generate over 370 permanent jobs.

Belén Garijo — Merck Chair of the Executive Board and CEO said: “This €440 million expansion of our Cork site, together with other major investments worldwide, will further enhance the value that Merck can deliver to customers throughout the development and production of their specialized medicines, vaccines and diagnostics.”

Merck to invest €440m in Ireland to expand membrane and filtration manufacturing capabilities. Photo courtesy of IDA Ireland.

At Carrigtwohill, Merck will invest over €290 million in an expansion project that involves a new manufacturing facility for carrying out the immersion casting of membranes. According to the pharma giant, the membranes support novel and gene therapies along with applications such as virus sterilization.

Last year, Merck invested €36 million at the Carrigtwohill site to open a second lateral flow membrane manufacturing product line, which is now functional and producing lateral flow membranes.

The Blarney Business Park will have a new €150 million filtration manufacturing facility. When fully operational, the filtration manufacturing plant in Cork will boost the global manufacturing capacity of Merck by producing traditional as well as novel treatments and therapeutics.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said: “I welcome today’s very significant announcement from Merck, which underlines the company’s commitment to doing business in Ireland.

“This investment, the largest in the history of Merck Life Science, speaks volumes about our capacity to provide the right conditions for multinational organizations to grow their operations. Ireland’s development of a strong life sciences ecosystem has been one of our greatest economic successes.”