Biopharmaceutical company Merck officially opened its new $1 billion vaccine manufacturing facility at its Durham site, the company said Tuesday.

Despite being 130 years old, the company’s new 225,000 sq ft facility will be state-of-the-art. (Courtesy Merck Corporation)

Though the company may be 130 years old, the state-of-the-art facility is 225,000 square feet and has all the bells and whistles.

This space features new data analytics, generative AI and 3D printing. To speed up employee training and simulate process changes before they're implemented, there's a virtual model of the shop floor’s manufacturing process systems.

“The cutting-edge technologies employed here empower our workforce and underscore our leadership in innovation to support patients everywhere,” Sanat Chattopadhyay, executive vice president and president of Merck’s manufacturing division, said.

Merck, out of Rahway, New Jersey, has invested $12 billion in the U.S. since 2018, concentrating on the development of global vaccines and medications, and the company said more investments could be on the horizon.

“This level of investment and commitment speaks so powerfully to the work we do here in Durham,” Amanda Taylor, vice president and plant manager at the Merck manufacturing site in Durham, said in a news release.

The company reported $64.2 billion in world revenue in 2024, with $32.3 billion of that revenue generated in the United States.

In 2024, the company had $64.2 billion in global revenue, $32.3 billion of which was from the U.S. (Courtesy Merck)