Merck & Co.’s Mission to Manufacture for Life

Merck & Co. boasts a nearly 85-year history in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. During that time, the company has remained dedicated to delivering cutting-edge medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products that save and improve lives around the world.

All this innovative work has taken place in Rockingham County. In fact, Merck remains so confident in the location that they have completed eight additional expansions in the area. The latest, in 2025, included plans to construct a $3 billion, 400,000-square-foot facility to serve as Merck’s Center of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Ingredients and Small Molecule Manufacturing. The announcement was the third major biopharmaceutical announcement in Virginia in a span of just over a month, with investments from Merck, Eli Lilly and Company, and AstraZeneca totaling $12.5 billion in capital investment and 1,750 direct jobs.

This state-of-the-art facility will include both active pharmaceutical ingredient and drug product investment, supporting small-molecule manufacturing and testing and generating 500 new jobs.

So what about this region has proved so beneficial for both the company and residents?

Rising to the Occasion

The personalized incentives, bold partnerships, access to world-class educational institutions, and reliable workforce certainly didn’t hurt.

A good example occurred in 2018, when Merck approached VEDP to discuss another potential expansion opportunity. The company needed to meet increased demand for its Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, which would require Merck’s to convert some of its tablet manufacturing facilities over to vaccine production, as well as adding a production line. 

The need was pressing, the competition fierce. Virginia was in the running, but winning would require innovative solutions and an extremely competitive proposal.

A Proposal with Possibility

State and local officials began conversations with Merck early on, and the Virginia team quickly began collaborating on a custom solution to address Merck’s workforce needs.

Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) and James Madison University (JMU) worked with the state, the locality, and the company to develop a unique educational program designed to train a reliable pipeline of workers with specialized skillsets. 

Together, they created a Regional Manufacturing Liaison position to work with Merck, BRCC, and JMU to address workforce needs, change the curriculum to align with those needs, and ensure initiatives stay on schedule. Other resources included the development of a boot camp-style training program for new hires, assistance with equipment maintenance, the establishment of a Biotechnology Director position at JMU to ensure continued curriculum enhancements, infrastructure upgrades, and more.

The Winning Formula

This custom incentive package not only demonstrated Virginia’s willingness to develop innovative solutions to accommodate a company’s specific needs. It also convinced Merck to expand their Elkton facility in Rockingham County in 2019.

Now, several years, another expansion, and over $3 billion in investments later, Merck & Co. remains confident in calling the Commonwealth its home.

Securing Merck’s manufacturing operation nearly 85 years ago continues to benefit the company, Rockingham County, the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, and the world.

Virginia [is] such an important part of the future of the biopharmaceutical ecosystem. You can see that in not only the attractiveness for Merck to continue with our investment, but also some of the additional investments coming into this state now.

Dave Maraldo, Senior Vice President of Human Health Manufacturing Operations, Merck