DARMSTADT (dpa-AFX) - Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has assured the German pharmaceutical industry of further support. On the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for a new Merck research center, in which the pharmaceutical and chemical group is investing more than 300 million euros, Scholz spoke of a "commitment to Germany as a strong pharmaceutical, industrial and research location".

Investments such as these are by no means the only ones, said Scholz in Darmstadt. For example, the US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is building a new plant in Rhineland-Palatinate for 2.3 billion euros and the pharmaceutical companies Roche from Switzerland and Daiichi-Sankyo from Japan are each investing over one billion euros in sites in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

"These are investments on a scale that we have not seen in Germany for a long time," said Scholz. "As the German government, we will continue to support this new departure with all our strength." As a sign of his commitment, Scholz placed the draft of the German government's Medical Research Act in a time capsule, which was embedded in the foundation stone of Merck's new research center.

Pharmaceutical industry as a ray of hope in the location debate

At the ground-breaking ceremony for the Eli Lilly plant in Alzey, Scholz had already described the strengthening of Germany as a pharmaceutical location as a central task of the federal government. With the major investments in Germany, the federal government can point to urgently needed successes in the debate about the weakening German economy and the problems in the business location.

The Federal Government has adopted a new pharmaceutical strategy for the sector, which employs around 128,000 people and is considered to be robust in the face of economic fluctuations. Among other things, faster approval procedures and less bureaucratic approvals are intended to strengthen pharmaceutical research. Scholz also referred to a billion-euro future fund for start-ups and better tax write-offs for research expenditure.

Merck's research center at its headquarters in Darmstadt is to provide around 18,000 square meters of space for around 550 employees from the beginning of 2027. The new building is part of Merck's investment program, which comprises around EUR 1.5 billion for the site until 2025. The strategic investment will enable progress that will benefit millions of patients around the world, said Merck CEO Belén Garijo.

In the building, the Group is bundling research on key technologies in its laboratory division - such as solutions for the production of antibodies, mRNA applications and other products in the biotech sector. In particular, mRNA technology is seen as a beacon of hope in medicine, for example against cancer. It is based on the blueprints of the body's own proteins. It became known for vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic. Research into mRNA is developing rapidly and is opening up new potential applications in medicine./als/evy/DP/jha