Merck KGaA Expands German Production Facility for Allergopharma Unit

Merck KGaA broke ground on a new production facility for its Allergopharma unit in Reinbek near Hamburg, the company announced in a press release. The new facility is estimated to cost nearly € 40 million ($55 million) and will be constructed on the current Allergopharma premises, with completion scheduled for 2016.

The facility will manufacture products for the diagnosis and treatment of type 1 allergies such as hay fever or allergic asthma under ultrapure, sterile conditions. The expansion will be used, among other things, to serve new markets, such as China. The new building will have a surface area of more than 6,000 square meters.

The market for allergy therapies (excluding symptomatic treatments) is showing strong global growth generated by an increasing number of people with allergies and by increasing use of specific immunotherapies in many emerging markets. Global growth is estimated to be between 5% and 10% per year, according to the press release.