By Olivia Bugault

Merck KGaA said late Wednesday that its life-science business has entered into a 121 million euro ($137.3 million) contract with the U.S. government to build a lateral-flow-membrane production plant in Wisconsin.

The German chemical company will construct the facility over a period of three years at its site in Sheboygan, it said.

The deal was signed as the U.S. is pushing to secure local supply and production capability for products that would be critical for pandemic preparation, Merck said.

The Hi-Flow Plus lateral flow membrane that will be manufactured at the company's facility is used in "rapid diagnostic test-kit manufacturing by Merck's customers, enabling reproducible results due to its consistent quality and optimized properties," it said. The kits are then used to test infectious diseases such as Covid-19 or HIV, among other applications, the company said.

Write to Olivia Bugault at olivia.bugault@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 30, 2021 01:55 ET (06:55 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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