Merck has announced that 15 new positions have been created at its Livingston facility as part of a £2.6m investment.
This is a result of a request made to the science and technology company to tender for the design, development and commercialisation of a novel diagnostic quality control kit for blood typing analysers.
Supported by a research and development grant from Scottish Enterprise, Merck was successfully selected as the project partner. The new product range has now been validated and has received regulatory approval in several key geographies, allowing it to be launched globally during April.
Site director Adrian Birkett said: “The investment is a just recognition of the incredible work being done by the team here in Livingston.
“As a company we aim to impact life and health with science by driving scientific breakthroughs and accelerating innovation.
“Project funding through the award of a grant from Scottish Enterprise was crucial in securing the project in Scotland and has allowed the permanent recruitment of R&D, engineering, project management and validation jobs at the site.
“As part of the project, we have installed a new warehousing facility, manufacturing cleanrooms and quality control laboratories.”
Secretary of State for Scotland Lord Offord, who performed the ribbon cutting at the event, commented: ”The work Merck does in the life sciences sector here in Livingston is ground-breaking and underlines Scotland’s place on the global stage as a centre of excellence for research and innovation.
“It’s great to see new leaps forward being made here for the benefit of people all over Scotland and the UK.”
Scottish Enterprise team leader Andrew Henderson added: “Our R&D support not only recognises this project’s importance to Merck, but also to the Scottish economy and Scotland’s growing global reputation for life sciences excellence.”
Merck’s Livingston facility is the world’s largest manufacturer of monoclonal antibodies for blood typing diagnosis, with more than 60% of the world market. The facility supplies intermediate and finished diagnostic reagents to all the world’s major blood typing manufacturers.
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