Home Business Manufacturing and Engineering Merck to Invest $1 Billion in ...

Merck to Invest $1 Billion in New Pharmaceutical Plant in Delaware

Manufacturing and Engineering

Business Honor
30 April, 2025

New plant will create 500 jobs and support U.S. domestic medicine production.

Merck, the multinational pharmaceutical corporation, has pledged to invest $1 billion in a new Wilmington, Delaware, factory. The 470,000-square-foot structure will be devoted to production of Merck's best-selling immunotherapy cancer medication Keytruda. The first U.S. plant dedicated exclusively to making Keytruda for U.S. patients will be built there.

The new plant is part of a larger strategy by Merck to diversify its domestic manufacturing and reduce imports. The action follows as the U.S. government weighs imposing tariffs on drugs, which would make it more expensive to import materials that are used to make drugs.

Merck's investment in Delaware's new factory will yield precious economic benefits to the area. The factory will yield more than 500 permanent jobs, along with about 4,000 construction jobs created in the course of building. In 2028, the factory will be operating at full capacity. Merck CEO Robert M. Davis pointed out the significance of the investment in enabling American patients faster access to quality treatments and boosting jobs in the region into the economy.

This move is also consistent with President Trump's drive towards more U.S. manufacturing and the reshoring of jobs that were earlier outsourced. Some American firms, including IBM, have publicly announced plans to invest in domestic production to drive economic growth and job creation in the country.

Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Merck has invested over $12 billion in increasing its U.S. manufacturing presence. The new Delaware plant is another key move in Merck's commitment to producing life-critical medicines and vaccines here in the United States, so they are more available to American patients and to assisting in driving economic recovery in the nation.