Merck Animal Health Makes $895M Investment in De Soto Facility

Posted May 8, 2025

​​Merck Animal Health announced plans to invest $895 million in the expansion of its biologics facility in De Soto.

​​Merck Animal Health, a biopharmaceutical company based in New Jersey, is planning a 200,000-square-foot expansion, including an $860 million investment in its existing facility and a $35 million investment in its research and development laboratories. This marks the largest investment in the company’s history.

Preparations for the expansion will begin effective immediately, with 2,500 construction jobs expected to be generated development. The expansion will create more than 200 new full-time jobs. The facility will begin operations by 2030, according to a release.

Merck Animal Health is adding a 200,000-square-foot expansion to its biopharmaceutical facility in De Soto, KS. Photo credit: Merck Animal Health.

“This extraordinary investment by Merck Animal Health underscores my administration’s commitment to securing a strong economic future for our state and ensuring prosperity for generations to come,” Kansas Governor Laura Kelly said in the release. “Public-private partnerships that lead to major global projects, such as those with Merck, Fiserv and Panasonic – just to name a few recent successes – are occurring because people believe in Kansas. They believe in who we are, what we are doing, and the direction we have taken.”

​​Merck Animal Health’s current facility, located at 35500 W. 91st St., now operates with 300 employees and manufactures pharmaceuticals for swine, equine, bovine and canines.

Merck’s De Soto facility is located within the KC Animal Health Corridor, a collective of over 300 businesses representing 56% of global animal health, diagnostics and pet food sales.

“This announcement reaffirms what we’ve long known — the Animal Health Corridor is where global leaders come to grow,” president of the KC Animal Health Corridor, Kimberly Young, said in the release. “Merck Animal Health’s expansion in De Soto is more than a vote of confidence — it’s a signal to the world that this region is built for ambitious, industry-defining work.”

The announcement of the expansion also marks the second largest private investment in Kansas history.

“Merck’s massive expansion in De Soto further elevates Kansas’ long-established status as a global leader in animal health,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “The opportunities and ripple effects of having almost $1 billion surge into the local economy will have far-reaching and long-lasting reverberations across the entire state.”