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NEW AND IMPROVED: Hoechst Merion Roussel's new research facility (inset) in Bridgewater, N.J. will house activities in biotechnology, automated screening and robotics, computational and medicinal chemistry, molecular modeling, and biophysics. Automated high throughput screening (above) will allow researchers to search huge chemical libraries for promising therapeutic compounds.

OPENING DAY AT HOECHST Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR) Inc., based in Frankfurt, Germany, marked the beginning of a new age of scientific discovery with the opening of its $43 million research facility in Bridgewater, N.J. The three-story laboratory building will accommodate 200 researchers in analytical and medicinal chemistry, automated chemical synthesis, molecular modeling, and genomics. At a dedication ceremony on April 28, Richard J. Markham, CEO of HMR, said the building doubles the research capabilities at the Bridgewater campus, representing HMR's continuing commitment to the state of New Jersey and to innovation in drug development. "Obviously our presence here provides us significant...