Germany’s Merck KGaA is investing $115 million to build a multi-use life science campus in the US. The 280,000 square-foot facility will be built in Burlington, Massachusetts, replacing an existing laboratory nearby in Billerica. The project includes an option to expand by an additional 70,000 square feet. Merck’s 850 full-time employees will transfer to the new campus when construction is complete in the second half of 2017.

The M Lab Collaboration Center will be one of nine built around the world, in France, Brazil, India, Singapore, China and South Korea. The centers are being created specifically so that Merck’s scientists and engineers can collaborate with customers, providing facilities for hands-on training, experiments and application troubleshooting in a non-GMP environment. Merck will maintain its other North American life science hub in St. Louis, Missouri.