Three CDMOs have separately announced expansions in their antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing capabilities and capacity on opposite sides of the Atlantic. This has come on the back of growing interest in this modality in the treatment of cancer, which has been forecast to grow at 15%/year to 2028.
At its latest Capital Markets Day, Merck KGaA said that it is “in a strong strategic position” to profit from medium-term growth opportunities in all three of its business sectors after a transitional year in 2023. “We committed to return to growth in 2024 and this is materialising already,” said Belén Garijo, CEO and chair (pictured).
Merck KGaA is to sell its global Surface Solutions business unit to Global New Material International Holdings (GNMI), one of the world’s largest pearlescent pigment producers, for €665 million in cash, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. This includes works council agreement for the French part of the business, which is not yet part of the deal but is subject to a binding agreement.
Merck KGaA has broken ground for a new production facility on a 150,000 m2 site for its Semiconductor Solutions business at Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It will produce speciality gases and semiconductor materials for thin film and patterning from 2025 onwards.
Semiconductor Solutions has been designated as one Merck’s ‘Big 3’ growth drivers. It forms part of the Electronics business sector, which started its ‘Level Up’ growth programme in 2021 with the aim of investing “significantly more than €3 billion” in innovations and capacity expansion projects by 2025.
Merck KGaA has closed its previously announced details to acquire M Chemicals, the company recently incorporated by Mecaro to operate its chemical business. This will bring it around 100 new employees as well as advanced production and R&D facilities in Korea.
The company said that the newly acquired operation is “expected to complement a key segment of Merck’s Semiconductor Solutions portfolio”. This in turn is one of the ‘Big 3’ growth engines recently identified as driving Merck’s ‘Level Up, growth programme.
Merck KGaA has revealed at its latest Capital Markets Day that it will continue to focus on its ‘Big Three’ businesses of Process Solutions and Life Science Services, new products in Healthcare and the Semiconductor Solutions arm.
By 2025, these are expected to generate about 80% of targeted sales growth, and more than 50% of total sales. The company remains on track to achieve its mid-term growth target of €25 billion that year and expects to increase sales organically by at least 6%/year on average, about €1 billion/year.
Merck KGaA’s Life Science business sector has launched ChetoSensar, a technology that improves the solubility of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Over 20% of ADC candidates are terminated in clinical trials because of poor solubility. The company said that this supports it efforts to double its ADC and HPAPI capacity in the near future.
