Merial, the Animal Health division of the strangely named sanofi-aventis Group Merial Animal Health Co. (China) is expanding its plant in the Nanchang Hi-tech Development Zone. Merial Animal Health has been in operation in China for almost 20 years.
So where does the oddly capitalized sanofi-aventis Group Merial Animal Health Co come from? The heat enfev’red brain of a PR is the most probably answer.
Merial is a multinational animal health company. It is a joint venture between Merck & Co. (MSD AgVet) and Sanofi-Aventis (Rhône-Mérieux), and was founded in 1997. The use of the daft sanofi-ventis cannot be found anywhere in the original company and must be of recent origin. It is so silly, we shall ignore it.
The facility in Nanchang produces poultry vaccines for the domestic Chinese market. Upon completion of the expansion project, which will cost about $70 million, the production capacity of the Nanchang plant will double. The new facility covers 50,000 square meters, with a phase I floor area of nearly 30,000 square meters.
Reuters tells us that Merial Limited was established in 1997, and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis. But Reuters, which is not the news company it once was under proper management, follows the idiocy of naming it sanofi-aventis. Reuters should be ashamed.