(Reuters) -Merck Animal Health, a unit of Merck, said on Thursday it would invest $895 million to expand its manufacturing facility in De Soto, Kansas. The capital expansion includes an investment of $860 million in the site’s existing manufacturing facility and a further $35 million in its research and development laboratories, Merck Animal Health said. […]
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Merck Animal Health announces $895 million investment in Kansas
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(Reuters) -Merck Animal Health, a unit of Merck, said on Thursday it would invest $895 million to expand its manufacturing facility in De Soto, Kansas.
The capital expansion includes an investment of $860 million in the site’s existing manufacturing facility and a further $35 million in its research and development laboratories, Merck Animal Health said.
Commercial manufacturing is expected to begin in 2030, the company added, and would create more than 200 full-time roles.
Merck Animal Health is partnering with the state of Kansas on expansion of the existing manufacturing facility.
Other drugmakers such as Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Gilead have recently announced additional investments to boost domestic production amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Trump had signed an executive order on Monday aimed at reducing the time it takes to approve pharmaceutical plants in the country to encourage domestic manufacturing.
Merck Animal Health said the investment will help expand filling and freeze dryer capacity for stabilizing and storing its vaccines.
(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Krishna Chandra Eluri)