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| This information
has been prepared for professional journalists use only in Singapore. |
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| New facility built on reclaimed
land brings company’s capital investment in Singapore to more
than $500 million |
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SINGAPORE, October 9, 2003 –
MSD Technology Singapore Pte Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Merck & Co., Inc., today dedicated the company’s newest
manufacturing facility – and the second to be opened here
in two years. The two facilities, which comprise 12 buildings
on 49 acres, are located in Tuas Biomedical Park, on reclaimed
land that didn’t exist 15 years ago.
Dr. Tony Tan, deputy prime minister and coordinating
minister for Security and Defense, Singapore, officiated at the
opening ceremony, which was attended by government officials,
health policy experts, other prominent members of the Singapore
community – as well as MSD executives and employees who
helped make the new facility a reality.
Located alongside the bulk pharmaceutical plant,
which MSD opened in September 2001, the new formulation facility,
with more than 15,000 square meters of floor space, is expected
to manufacture a new product which combines a recently approved
cholesterol medication, EZETROL (ezetimibe)*, with a widely-used
cholesterol medication, ZOCOR (simvastatin)*.
“Two years have passed since we stood at
this same site to dedicate our first manufacturing facility here
– a state-of-the-art bulk pharmaceutical plant which manufactures
active pharmaceutical ingredients – the building blocks
of our finished products,” said Raymond V. Gilmartin, chairman,
president and chief executive officer of Merck, which operates
in Singapore as MSD. “The sophisticated formulation facility
being dedicated today will provide physicians and patients throughout
the world with high quality, efficacious medicines.”
With both the bulk pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical
formulation plants fully functional, MSD Singapore now has a highly
skilled 250-person workforce. This is in addition to more than
95 employees in the company’s Singapore sales and marketing
subsidiary (MSD I.A. Corp), and nearly 50 employees in logistical
and information technology groups based in Singapore to support
operations throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
“Merck is proud to have established strong
roots in Singapore, a country which has recognized the value and
importance of a strong biomedical industry, both to its own economy
and to the health of people everywhere,” Mr. Gilmartin said.
“Your infrastructure, your record of growth and your commitment
to economic development are examples for the world to follow.”
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Richard T. Clark, president of
the Merck Manufacturing Division, said, “In manufacturing
our medicines in a cost-effective manner, the company has three
priorities – producing medicines that meet the most stringent
quality standards, conducting business with the highest regard
for the environment, and assuring the safety and health of our
employees, our neighbors, and the patients who depend on our medicines.”
Mr. Clark continued, “The highly advanced technology at
this site exemplifies Merck’s commitment to operating world-class
manufacturing facilities that enhance our global operations and
enable us to meet worldwide demand for our medicines.”
Mr. Clark noted that the MSD operations in Singapore complement
the company’s global operations, which comprise a sophisticated
network of more than 30 production facilities in 25 countries,
with approximately 16,000 employees worldwide. He noted that the
new formulation facility brings Merck’s investment at Tuas
Biomedical Park to more than US$500 million. |
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Paul Martino, managing director
of MSD’s manufacturing operations in Singapore, said the
Company completed construction of both the original bulk pharmaceutical
plant as well as the new pharmaceutical formulation plant “on
schedule – and without a lost-time injury throughout construction
and into the operational start-up.”
In addition to the excellent safety record during construction,
“the new facilities have already logged 1.4 million work
hours without a lost-time injury,” he said. “For me,
and for all the people who have worked so hard on this project,
today’s dedication is truly a significant milestone.”
Because of its safety record and rigorous safety management systems,
the Singapore Ministry of Manpower selected MSD Singapore Manufacturing
Operations to receive a Gold Annual Safety Performance Award for
two consecutive years.
Mr. Martino thanked the MSD employees who helped establish the
new facilities and expressed appreciation to the Economic Development
Board, the Jurong Town Corporation, and the other government agencies
which provided leadership and support to MSD at the Tuas Biomedical
Park.
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| Merck & Co., Inc., is a global
research-driven pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops,
manufactures and markets a broad range of human and animal health
products, directly and through its joint ventures. Merck is known
in most markets outside the United States as Merck Sharp & Dohme. |
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| This press release contains "forward-looking
statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and
uncertainties which may cause results to differ materially from
those set forth in the statements. The forward-looking statements
include statements regarding product development and product potential.
No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results
may differ materially from those projected. Additional detailed
information concerning a number of factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially is available in Item 1 of Merck's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2002, in its periodic
reports on Form 10-Q and in its reports on Form 8-K (if any). Copies
of these forms are available on request to Merck's Office of Stockholder
Services. |
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*Ezetimibe is a prescription medicine
marketed in Singapore as EZETROL™ for the treatment of elevated
cholesterol. EZETROL is a trademark of MSP Singapore Company,
LLC.
*Simvastatin is a prescription medicine marketed in Singapore
as ZOCOR® for cholesterol management. ZOCOR® is a registered
trademark of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, New Jersey,
USA. |
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