Merck and Co Inc is closing its Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research as part of a global restructuring prompted by its 2009, US$41-billion acquisition of Schering-Plough. The centre is one of eight research centres worldwide that are being shuttered as the Whitehouse Station NJ-based firm sheds 15,000 people or 15% of its work force.

Located in suburban Montreal, the Canadian research facility currently employs 180 people (down from 285 in 2008).

"It's unfortunate and I'm disappointed to see 180 well-paid jobs disappear but there are lots of opportunities for them in Quebec," Clémont Gignac, minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, told R$. "They're also closing a Boston lab. They're closing their smaller research centres and keeping the big ones up and running for multi-disciplinary research."

Merck also announced that it was committing $100 million over the next five years to R&D in Quebec, to be spent in collaboration with provincial companies and academic institutions.

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