MSD, a leading global biopharmaceutical company also known as Merck & Co., Inc. in the US and Canada and with global headquarters in Rahway, N.J., USA, set up its first sales and marketing office in Singapore in 1993. Since then, it has invested well over S$2.5 billion to expand its operations here, which range from manufacturing facilities, its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters and animal health plant, to its Translational Medicine Research Centre (TMRC) and a global Technology Centre. Today, MSD employs more than 1,800 people in Singapore, across manufacturing, research and development (R&D) and corporate functions.
In the 1990s, MSD established a manufacturing facility in Tuas, Singapore. By the late 2010s, the operations underwent significant consolidation to enhance efficiency and streamline processes. The multi-product manufacturing facility today is equipped to produce a diverse range of products, including active pharmaceutical ingredients, oral solid dosage forms, inhalation products, and sterile drug formulations. Additionally, a secondary packaging facility operates to support production capabilities. As of 2024, four of MSD’s top 10 products are manufactured and supplied from the Singapore facility, underscoring its strategic importance to the company’s global operations.
Another area that Singapore plays a key role in is advancing MSD’s research efforts, through a TMRC at Biopolis which focuses on cutting-edge drug discovery and development activities that help to translate breakthrough biomedical research into meaningful therapies and vaccines that save and improve lives. The state-of-the-art research centre collaborates with A*STAR, leading research centres and local universities to explore new biopharmaceutical frontiers. MSD’s TMRC has also launched a Talent Accelerator initiative that offers on-the-job training for researchers and scientists to gain invaluable hands-on experience and industry research skills through the global MSD Research Laboratories network.
In 2015, MSD opened a US$8 million Global IT Innovation Hub, which has evolved to be the MSD Singapore Tech Centre today. Through key expertise such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, software engineering, data and analytics, cybersecurity and more, the Tech Centre powers digital transformation at MSD and drive business outcomes, delivering tech capabilities to support business areas from drug discovery and development to manufacturing and patient access.
The Singapore Tech Centre, which is part of a global network alongside others in the US, Czech Republic and India, actively collaborates with the Singapore ecosystem to explore the use of digital technology to create meaningful impact in healthcare. These collaborations include contributions to IMDA’s Model AI Governance Framework in 2019.
Animal Health Innovation in Singapore is an R&D facility dedicated to developing innovative health solutions for aquaculture, with a special focus on infectious diseases in warm water species. Twelve novel fish vaccines have been registered since the facility was opened in 2000.
In 2024, MSD launched its IDEA Studio Asia Pacific in Singapore, a new initiative to fund and collaborate with entrepreneurs and early-stage companies focused on delivering transformative healthcare solutions. Key areas of interest within the IDEA Studio Asia Pacific include access to vaccinations and cancer therapies.
