MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, opened a €300 million ($335 million) bioprocessing production center in Daejeon, South Korea. The company’s largest life science investment in Asia-Pacific to date, the facility expands regional manufacturing capacity for materials used in biologics development and production.

The 44,500-square-meter center will reportedly supply products for bioprocessing from early development through commercial-scale manufacturing. These include dry powder and liquid cell culture media, small-scale custom media products, process liquids, ready-to-use cleaning-in-place solutions, and sterile sampling products. The company said cell culture media and process liquids will use animal-component-free raw materials and be manufactured to consistent global quality standards.

The facility’s integrated digital systems are designed to support automated data capture and end-to-end batch traceability. The systems will provide process transparency and support quality management and regulatory compliance.

MilliporeSigma also designed the center to eliminate on-site fossil-fuel use and improve energy and water efficiency, according to the announcement. Planned measures include solar power, heat pumps, energy recovery in air handling units, and rainwater reuse.

The Daejeon investment is part of MilliporeSigma’s in-region-for-region strategy, which aims to bring manufacturing and services closer to customers. In August, it announced an expansion of its BioReliance biosafety testing laboratory in Singapore to add cell line characterization and good manufacturing practice (GMP) next-generation sequencing capabilities. The expanded laboratory will be the first BioReliance facility in Asia-Pacific to offer both services, according to the company.

The Singapore investment followed the July opening of a €25 million ($28 million) biologics testing facility in Darmstadt, Germany, which provides commercial release testing and GMP-compliant stability studies. Together, the developments expand MilliporeSigma’s manufacturing and testing network supporting biopharmaceutical production.