Merck to Close Kendall Site

Erin Kutz7/8/10

Merck (NYSE: MRK) announced plans to shutter its research site in Cambridge, MA’s Kendall Square neighborhood alongside seven other research facilities worldwide over the next two years. It will also phase out another eight manufacturing sites, as part a restructuring plan that follows its November 2009 merger with Schering-Plough. Some of the Kendall Square research operations will shift across the river to Merck’s facility in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area, a company spokesman told me. New Jersey-based Merck previously announced plans to cut 15 percent of its combined 100,000-person workforce, and the moves announced today will fall under that umbrella.

Erin Kutz is an Associate Editor for Xconomy. You can reach her by e-mail at ekutz@xconomy.com or by phone at (617) 252-0700, or follow her on Twitter at @erkutz.