WILMINGTON — Merck & Company will symbolically break ground on a new $900 million site at the Chestnut Run Innovation and Science Park (CRISP) next week.
Three sources told the Delaware Business Times that the groundbreaking will take place next week with limited state officials and representatives from the global science and technology company on site.
The ceremony will come a month after Merck filed a memorandum notifying lenders and the county of a signed 20-year lease with the MRA Group, county records show. Spotlight Delaware first reported news of the lease.
The memorandum did not disclose the rent Merck will pay for the property.
Merck spent a year planning the new manufacturing facility, which is reported to include several buildings with labs and other operations. The facility will span 470,000 square feet and double the company’s already existing footprint in the First State; Merck has 300 employees in Millsboro at its animal health center. The site would hire 375 employees, according to state documents.
The project, codenamed Fast Pitch, was approved for $30 million in state taxpayer-backed grants by the Council on Development Finance in February contingent on Merck’s selection of Delaware as its next site. Merck representatives told officials then that CRISP was one of a few sites under consideration in a competitive process, though they declined to elaborate on which states were also in the running.
The grant is the largest awarded in the last 15 years, according to Delaware Business Times research. Now that Merck has a formal location, the Division of Small Business will likely start drafting the agreement for the $30 million grant in the coming days.
Merck and MRA Group representatives were not immediately available for comment.
CRISP has been on the rise since the MRA Group of Horsham, Pa. acquired it in 2021 with the intent of building a life science campus. The pharmaceutical company with a market cap of $200 billion is the biggest deal that MRA Group has signed for this site. In the past, the firm has signed deals with Solenis and Prelude Therapeutics for office and lab space.
Demolition was ongoing as early as Feb. 5, when the MRA Group welcomed business leaders on campus for a groundbreaking ceremony at the future Marriott Residence. That follows a construction timeline Merck laid out to state officials weeks later, as the MRA Group would build out shell buildings this year and Merck would invest $290 in equipment inside.
State documents previously showed that Merck plans to manufacture “drug substance and drug products” for products under development.
The Delaware Prosperity Partnership referred DBT to a statement made by DPP Communications Manager Susan Colby in February for this story.
“Delaware Prosperity Partnership is thrilled that another world-class biopharmaceutical company is considering growing in Delaware,” the statement read. “Merck has a strong record of success, including developing medicines to help heal the world. This project would reinforce Delaware’s standing in the global biopharmaceutical ecosystem, and we are excited by the potential opportunities it would provide Delaware residents and businesses. DPP will continue to support the company as it makes its final decision about this expansion.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to show the facility’s revised square footage.
