Merck has officially opened its new €150m filtration manufacturing facility at Blarney Business Park in Cork as the company creates 200 jobs over the next three years.
The site is Merck’s first manufacturing facility designed for full climate-neutral operations, powered entirely by renewable electricity, and marks a milestone in the company’s ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2040.
The 3,000-sq m cleanroom facility will produce advanced filtration products used in the manufacturing o therapies, including vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and new modalities such as cell and gene therapies.
The Blarney facility is part of Merck’s largest Life Science investment to date in Ireland, with €440m committed across its Cork operations in Blarney and Carrigtwohill. The expansion will support more than 200 new jobs in Cork by 2028.
“Ireland’s reputation as a global hub for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and innovation is further strengthened by Merck’s significant investment in Cork,” said Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht and at the Department of Transport, Jerry Buttimer. “This commitment highlights the attractiveness of our region for leading life sciences companies.”
Merck Life Science Jean-Charles Wirth chief executive said expanding manufacturing in the Cork site will reinforce Ireland’s position as a key hub in Merck’s global network.
The Blarney facility is expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2025. It will manufacture filtration devices used in aseptic processing, tangential-flow filtration, and virus filtration, technologies essential for ensuring that medicines are safe, sterile, and effective for patients.
This latest investment is part of Merck’s €2bn Life Science global expansion programme, announced in 2020, to meet the growing worldwide demand for life-saving therapies.