Merck invests in Buchs site
Buchs SG – Chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck is investing 19 million Swiss francs to build a new laboratory in Buchs. It also plans to create new jobs at the site.
The Merck Group is building the new laboratory for its subsidiary Sigma-Aldrich Chemie GmbH in order to expand capacities at the site. “With this construction project, Merck is clearly indicating that the Buchs site continues to be one of Merck’s most important R&D centers,” site manager Dennis Tschudin said in an article published in the Tagblatt newspaper.
The new building will provide laboratory and office workplaces for 40 people. While some employees will relocate from the existing building at the site, two-thirds of the jobs will be newly created. The subsidiary currently employs around 450 people in Buchs. The new three-story building will be joined to the existing laboratory with a connecting building.
The new laboratory area will be designed in a flexible manner so that it can be adapted to future requirements. “We are adopting a completely new approach,” said Michael Mühlhofer, who is responsible for strategy and project management at Sigma-Aldrich in Buchs.
Ground has already been broken on the new project and the excavation work is now underway. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2021, and the building should be ready for occupancy at the beginning of 2022.