Merck invests in biologics

Germany's Merck will invest roughly $240 million in a biopharmaceutical plant in Darmstadt, Germany. The facility, expected to open in 2010, will manufacture biological active ingredients for the treatment of cancer. Initially, the site will be primarily dedicated to the production of Erbitux, the ImClone Systems monoclonal antibody that Merck markets outside of the U.S. The project will result in about 190 new jobs. The investment is a shift in strategy for Merck, which in 2003 abandoned plans to build a biologics plant in Jena, Germany, in favor of buying Erbitux from Boehringer Ingelheim and ImClone. Erbitux has since become Merck's top-selling drug.