Shire Announces $400 Million Ireland Investment

Shire plans to expand its global biotechnology manufacturing capacity over the next four years by investing US$400 million in Ireland to meet rapidly growing demand, the company announced on April 15, 2016. The company will create a new biologics manufacturing campus, which it expects will lead to the creation of approximately 400 permanent jobs, on a 120-acre site at Piercetown, County Meath, Ireland. Construction of the new site will begin in mid-2016 with the site expected to be operational by mid-2019. The facility will employ flexible production strategies, enabling it to supply both clinical and commercial scale products.

“The expansion supports our manufacturing strategy to develop and provide innovative specialty medicines for patients,” said Tim Kelly, senior vice-president of technical operations at Shire, in a press release. “Ireland is a strategically important location for Shire, providing both excellence in life science R&D and manufacturing. We already have a strong team on the ground in Ireland and believe that it is the right location for us to build a new state-of-the-art facility, which will complement our existing manufacturing operations in the US.”

Source: IDA Ireland