[U] A Commenter-Provided Update, On Merck's London R&D Hub -- It Was Promised In 2017, For A Post Brexit UK

Thanks to our erstwhile anonymous commenter, we tonight learn that Merck (called MSD in Europe and the UK) is finally getting ready to break ground on the November 2017 promise it made -- amid all the uncertainty of much couch-fainting Brexit angst. Back then, the EU medical regulatory offices (the EMEA) were in the process of moving onto the continent, and (to be fair) it wasn't entirely clear what would become of "world-class" bio-science/life sciences research efforts inside the UK, in a soon-to be tumultuously-fractured market.

Much has transpired since those uncertain days under PM Theresa May (and 2020 occupancy has become. . . 2025). I'd say. . . many of the more dire predictions were more mitigated, and muted -- in their practical effects, on the "in England" life sciences companies.

This fact may also explain why the 2017 commitment from Merck was 1,000 new jobs -- and as of today, at least -- the company is only delivering about one-tenth that number -- of new jobs. [Another 700 or so will be relocated positions, from elsewhere.] Here's the latest bit:

. . . .It will be called, quite simply, the London Discovery Research Centre, and it should be up and running by 2025, with work starting late next year. . . . On top of the moving scientists and staffers from its other areas into the center, it also expects to create about 120 new jobs for scientists and technicians.

[Merck] expects to employ 800 people at the 25,000-square-meter site and to spend £1 billion (USD $1.3 billion) all told on the hub. . . .

Now you know. . . onward -- smiling. The masthead has been updated, for some "below decks" molten metal -- that lies deep under the South Atlantic -- and is causing a dent in our outer magnetosphere, as the Earth rotates on its axis. As a magnet with a very hot. . . copper dent. Ever. . . smiling.



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