Merck KGaA announced today that China will join Germany, Switzerland and the U.S. as a key hub of the company's R&D efforts. Over the next four years, the company will invest €150 million in its Beijing R&D center, creating 200 new jobs; Merck currently employs only 50 people in Beijing. The expanded R&D team will lead Merck's drug development efforts in China and Asia and will be on the lookout for potential partnerships with Chinese research institutions. R&D efforts will focus on biomarker research, including pharmacogenomics and bioanalytics activities.
"China is a country with talented scientists and high-quality research," said Bernhard Kirschbaum, Executive Vice President, Research and Development for Merck Serono. "We will recruit more R&D talent in China and build a world-class organization in China that will extend our global R&D expertise and capabilities."
- here's Merck's release
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