The investment will better secure supplies for regional customers, and sustain the heipha/Hycon product lines including contact and settle plates and Agar strips for systems which are used in monitoring ambient air and compressed gases.
Merck Millipore acquired the heipha/Hycon product lines in 2011 as part of its purchase of Biotest AG which expanded the division’s offerings in industrial microbiology and added 290 employees to the company.
The investment comes as Merck Millipore is seeing an increasing demand from customers at both its France and Eppelheim, Germany sites for more products.
“We are committed to providing our customers with a reliable supply of products, including Ready-To-Use Media, which this investment in Molsheim will help to ensure,” said Udit Batra, President and CEO of Merck Millipore. “Both Molsheim and Eppelheim (Germany) sites will continue to support the increasing demand from our customers. This investment signifies our long-term dedication to Merck Millipore’s Lab customers in this region and around the world.”
This investment also includes the extension of the manufacturing capacity space for RTU Media, a new clean room, and two additional production lines similar to those existing in Eppelheim where RTU Media will also continue to be manufactured.
In addition to the investment, Merck Millipore announced plans to centralize current research and development laboratories across various scientific areas of expertise to form an Innovation Center where the company will investigate future customer needs.
The Molsheim facility, which opened in 1972, has approximately 1,030 employees engaged in ongoing R&D activities, as well as to help manufacture products across Merck Millipore’s BioMonitoring, Lab Water, and BioPharm Process Solutions businesses.