MSD Animal Health Expands Facility Capacity and Capability to Its Manufacturing, Packaging and Warehousing Site in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Ribbon-cutting Ceremony Marks Milestone of Expanding Site

HAAR, Germany, November 12, 2018 – MSD Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA, today announced continued expansion activities of its manufacturing, packaging and warehousing facility in its Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, site, for blending and filling of poultry vaccines. The Milton Keynes location is part of a manufacturing network that supports the company’s global leadership position in the Animal Health market. The company held a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony this month in Milton Keynes to officially mark this milestone.
   
“We are committed to expand our manufacturing capacity and capabilities to help meet the increased global customer demand for our innovative products,” said Hans-Günther Dittrich, Senior Vice President, EURAM (Europe, Russia, North Africa and Middle East) Region, MSD Animal Health. “The investment in our Milton Keynes facility is another example of  our contribution and expansion of our footprint in the EURAM region, to help advance our mission of the Science of Healthier Animals®.”

Vaccines play an important role in protecting animal and public health. Timely and effective vaccination reduces the incidence and severity of disease, enabling efficient production of food animals. Vaccines also have had a significant impact on the health of pets, preventing serious illnesses and helping them live longer and healthier lives. 

“Creating enhanced methods and processes to better serve our customers are one part of our mutii-facted approach,” said Joseph Morrissey, Senior Vice President, Animal Health Manufacturing, MSD Animal Health. “We continue to explore ways around the world to enhance  existing facilities with upgraded equipment or technology, further expand our facilities with advanced technology platforms, and increase capacity and capabilities in manufacturing, packaging, and warehousing to meet the rapidly growing demand for our vaccine and biologic products.” 

MSD Animal Health continues to invest in expanding its manufacturing facilities with a recent acquisition of a large-scale, production facility with product formulation and filling capabilities in Krems, Austria; an existing facility for production of poultry vaccines using SPHEREON® technology in Salamanca, Spain; and a recently announced construction phase of a state-of-the-art facility in Boxmeer, The Netherlands, for sterile fillng and freeze drying of vaccines. Additionally, Boxmeer is one of the company’s centers for the development and production of veterinary vaccines, including other production and research facilities in Boxmeer and De Bilt.

MSD Animal Health is one of the the largest poultry vaccine manufacturers worldwide, with products against most major pathogens and a focus on diseases affecting broilers, breeders and layers.
The health and well-being of animals is the first and foremost priority of MSD Animal Health. The company strongly supports the responsible use of enhanced vaccine and pharmaceutiucal production platforms to improve and maintain the health of animals, as well as discovery of new tools to prevent, treat, and in some cases, even eradicate diseases.

About MSD Animal Health
For more than a century, MSD, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. MSD Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA, is the global animal health business unit of MSD.Through its commitment to the Science of Healthier Animals®, MSD Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services. MSD Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. MSD Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit www.msd-animal-health.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA
This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline products that the products will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov).