Merck KGaA's EMD Millipore Sheds Jobs in St. Charles

EMD Millipore, a division of German pharmaceutical giant Merck, has laid off several staffers in St. Charles. The layoffs occurred within the bioscience business unit, and were the “result of the organization going through an evaluation of its functions, as well as the business environment and re-directing its focus to growth areas that fit the company’s long-term business strategy,” a company spokeswoman, Jennifer Bianco, said in an email message. She said the staff reduction affected “less than 2 percent” of the St. Charles headcount. EMD Millipore, with headquarters in Billerica, Mass., has 10,000 employees worldwide; it had 300 full-time employees in St. Charles as of this past spring, reported the St. Charles Economic Development Center, citing data from Dun & Bradstreet. Merck bought Millipore for $7.2 billion in cash in 2010. The St. Charles facility houses the company’s bioscience drug discovery headquarters and offers contract laboratory services. Before the acquisition by Merck, Millipore was a fast-growing company with big plans to grow jobs in St. Charles.