Merck opens Asia-Pacific bioprocessing plant in Daejeon

Merck, the German chemicals and life-sciences group, opened a bioprocessing production center in Daejeon on Thursday, a 450 billion won ($340 million) investment the industry ministry described as the company's largest in Asia-Pacific life sciences.

The plant in the Dungok district of the International Science and Business Belt will make cell-culture media and process liquids, supplying them directly to Korean customers and serving as an export base for the region. Merck plans to employ about 300 people at the center by 2028.

The project stems from a three-way memorandum of understanding signed in May 2023 by the industry ministry, the Daejeon city government and Merck. Officials said the government worked with the company from site selection through permitting and the resolution of regulatory difficulties. Merck decided on the investment after weighing Korea's growth potential in biotech and its plan to build a supply-chain base for Asia-Pacific.

"It is a meaningful investment that widens the horizon of Korea-Germany economic cooperation," said Park Jeong-sung, the ministry's trade minister, at the opening ceremony, according to a ministry release. He added that the opening was particularly significant because it coincided with the German chancellor's visit to Korea and the Asia-Pacific Conference 2026.

The ceremony at the Daejeon site drew about 250 people, including Park, Daejeon Mayor Heo Tae-jeong and National Assembly member Hwang Jung-a, as well as Johannes Bailou, chairman of Merck's executive board, and Jean Charles Wirth, chief executive of Merck Life Science.

Kim Jae-jun, director of Merck's Daejeon site, said Korea is one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical and biotech markets in Asia-Pacific, with a high level of technology and a strong talent pool. "Korea is now a market that records sales large enough to rank among the top for Merck as a whole," Kim said.

Merck, founded in 1668, operates in life sciences, healthcare and electronics materials. It first entered Korea in 1989 and now employs more than 1,900 people in the country. In life sciences, it has run process development, technical support and small-scale raw-material production for Korean biotech companies through its M Lab collaboration center and life-science operations headquarters in Songdo, west of Seoul.

"I hope Merck will further develop its biotech business in Korea through the bioprocessing production center and continue to create new growth opportunities together with Korea as a foreign-invested company," Park said.