Thousands of jobs could be on the horizon for American workers as drug manufacturer Merck takes steps to move manufacturing into the U.S., particularly in the form of a $1 billion state-of-the-art biologics center under construction in Wilmington, Delaware.
In a FOX Business exclusive, company CEO Robert Davis told “Mornings with Maria” the effort will take time as Merck builds the capability, but the payoff could mean stable access to drugs in addition to high-paying jobs.
Davis said Merck currently does contract manufacturing for the drug substance in the U.S. as well as outside the U.S. but the company is looking to have both substance and product in the U.S.
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“For Ireland, what that means is not necessarily that we’re going to close down operations, because we still have to serve the rest of the world, too,” he explained on Tuesday.
“This is really an opportunity for us to [have the] U.S. [provide] for [the] U.S., [and] Europe [provide] for Europe, and have a much more risk-mitigated, resilient supply chain that has optionality that allows us to bring security. And as we think about national security, this is important security to the drug supply in the United States so that we can ensure that no matter what the situation is, U.S. patients get access to medicine.”
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A news release from the company states Merck Wilmington Biotech will “comprise laboratory, manufacturing and warehouse capabilities to enable the launch and commercial production of next-generation biologics and therapies including potent antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), reinforcing Merck’s focus on expanding and diversifying its pipeline.”
The site will also have production capabilities for the popular immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA, which is used to treat cancer.
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Davis said the location could initially provide 4,000 construction jobs and 500 full-time positions but expand to a workforce of 2,000 with 30,000 construction workers.
“It will be a meaningful opportunity both for tradesmen and for manufacturing to have good, high-quality paying jobs here in the United States,” he added.
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