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Merck facilities on the island have historically produced four of the company's top five best-selling medicines, including blockbusters like Zocor and Fosamax . Economic and Workforce Contributions
Given Puerto Rico’s exposure to hurricanes and earthquakes, Merck has invested heavily in resilience: merck puerto rico
: The facility is designed to be highly flexible. Merck can test and scale up new manufacturing technologies for roughly USD 100,000 per product , a relatively low cost that allows the company to fail quickly or succeed efficiently without massive capital loss. Merck facilities on the island have historically produced
: The site handles complex processes like blending, granulating, and pressing tablets for non-sterile oral dosages , supporting major therapeutic areas including oncology, diabetes, and cardiovascular health . : The site handles complex processes like blending,
In 2013, Merck announced a $100 million redesign to focus the Las Piedras site on high-technology new product development. This shift led to the consolidation of operations from other sites, such as Arecibo and Barceloneta, which were eventually sold to third parties to maintain local jobs.
Merck is consistently one of Puerto Rico’s top 10 private employers and a leading exporter of pharmaceutical goods from the island.