German pharmaceutical giant Merck announced last week that it will invest more than 70 million euros ($72.88 million) to build a new advanced materials development center at its Shizuoka plant in Japan.

This latest investment brings Merck's total investment in the Shizuoka plant since 2021 to more than 120 million euros.

Merck said the new Advanced Materials Development Center is expected to be operational in 2026.

The 5,500-square-meter center is equipped with state-of-the-art clean rooms and laboratories, and is designed to be highly scalable and ready for future capacity increases to meet rapidly growing market demand.