Consortium Bids For Merck Facility

A Swiss consortium has offered to acquire Merck Serono’s former headquarters in Geneva and convert it into a biotech and health care research center. The consortium comprises École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the University of Geneva, billionaire medical device entrepreneur Hansjörg Wyss, and the Bertarelli family, who sold Serono to Merck KGaA in 2006. The building will house a Wyss Institute similar to one already established at Harvard University. The Wyss Foundation plans to endow the project with up to $135 million over six years, creating between 120 and 150 jobs.