West Dublin is to benefit from a €24m investment in biotechnology research and development (R&D) at Wyeth Corporation’s Clondalkin biopharmaceutical campus.
The investment will add 6,000 square metres of lab space to the 2,500 square metres already in use.
The R&D facilities currently employ 70 people with a large percentage of these PhD graduates. The investment will grow this number to 80 highly qualified workers.
Wyeth said that the new capacity will give the company a competitive edge and that the intellectual property resulting from the R&D lab will place the Irish operations in a highly strategic position.
Wyeth commenced production in the Grange Castle, Clondalkin facility in 2005 as part of a €1.8bn investment and employs 1,270 people. In total, Wyeth employs 3,000 people in Ireland, including four additional locations in Newbridge, Sligo, Limerick and Ballymount, Dublin.
“The Irish development team has already delivered excellent scientific and process improvements for Wyeth and this investment today is a further vote of confidence in the Grange Castle Campus,” said Michael Kamarck, senior vice-president of Wyeth Biotech.
“In addition to the 10 new development scientists, Wyeth will be recruiting a further 70 staff this year bringing its direct employment at Grange Castle to 1350,” Kamarck explained.
By John Kennedy
