A bright future for Merck's NC vaccine plant

Construction hasn't even finished at Merck's new Durham, North Carolina vaccine plant and the company's already considering what to do next. The $750 million plant, which is expected to be completed in 2011, will house 400 workers and the production of childhood vaccines and a shingles shot for adults. But Merck has two more experimental vaccines in testing that will need a home--another pediatric vaccine and jab to prevent staph infections. The company has vaccine ops in Elkton, VA and West Point, PA that will compete with the Durham site for the new vaccines.

When Merck initially chose North Carolina, it did so with the possibility of expansion in mind. And it's already enhanced the original plans for the site. In July, the company announced that it would invest an additional $300 million in the vaccine plant and create 180 new jobs."I'm not about to make an announcement," CEO Richard Clark (photo) told the News & Observer. "But I have a suspicion that we haven't stopped at $750 million [in Durham]." The region's growing biotech hub, along with a potential $45 million in tax breaks, will certainly make it more attractive. Merck will need to win FDA approval of the North Carolina site before vaccines manufactured there can be sold.

- read this News & Observer article for more

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