Some major biopharma employers will be exhibiting at the NIBRT Careers Fair later this week.
This Saturday (29 March), the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) will hold its annual Careers in Biopharma event.
Now in its 11th year, the 2025 event will be hosted at O’Reilly Hall, University College Dublin (UCD) and is an opportunity for recent graduates and professionals to meet with biopharma industry leaders about either kick-starting their career or transitioning into the industry.
As well as meeting top employers in the sector, attendees will also be able to listen to talks from experts about current trends and advancements in biopharma. They can also explore training programmes that could help them on their career journey and build connections with peers.
Here are some of the biopharma companies that will be attending the event.
AbbVie
Research-driven pharma player AbbVie is one of the top life sciences companies around the globe and produces Humira, used to treat a variety of ailments such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease.
AbbVie currently employs 2,900 people in Ireland across six sites in Cork, Dublin, Sligo and Mayo. In 2022, the company expanded its Cork site with a €60m infusion, creating 70 new jobs at the manufacturing site.
Amgen
International biotechnology firm Amgen develops therapeutics for serious illnesses. It operates a major facility in Dún Laoghaire with state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities bulking up the company’s global operations and employing hundreds of people. The company also has an office in Santry.
In 2021, the company invested $100m in a new vial filling line and site infrastructure at its Dún Laoghaire site. In 2022, it agreed to buy Dublin-headquartered biotech company Horizon Therapeutics.
APC and VLE Therapeutics
Irish multinational biotech and pharma group APC and VLE Therapeutics manufactures and distributes medicines for conditions such as respiratory diseases, HIV and Alzheimer’s. It is based at Cherrywood Campus since it initially opened in late 2022.
Last year, APC and its biotech spin-out VLE Therapeutics announced a major €100m expansion to its headquarters which is being used to double its team and building a new R&D centre. In September, APC co-founder Mark Barrett spoke to SiliconRepublic.com about Ireland’s pharma landscape.
BioMarin
US biotech company BioMarin was founded more than 20 years ago and has offices and facilities around the world, including in Dublin and Cork. The company has several products that treat life-threatening conditions such as achondroplasia and several rare inherited lysosomal storage diseases.
The company has invested massively in its Cork manufacturing plant, officially opening its expanded plant in 2023 and in December 2024, BioMarin announced a further €60m investment for further expansion plans.
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS)
BMS is the product of a 1989 merger that brought together the Squibb corporation and Bristol-Myers. It has a number of Irish hubs including a large, state-of-the-art biologics facility in Cruiserath in Dublin and a manufacturing facility in Shannon, Co Clare.
Last year, the pharma giant announced at $400m investment to expand its Dublin 15 facility, which is expected to create 350 additional roles and expand the company’s manufacturing and laboratory capacity for a range of therapies, including oncology, immunology and haematology.
Eurofins
Eurofins is a testing laboratories company headquartered in Luxembourg. It has global reach, with sites across the US, Asia, Africa and Europe. In Ireland, Eurofins specialises in biopharma, food testing and environmental services.
In 2019, the company announced 150 new jobs for its Dublin facility, focused particularly on DevOps and virtualisation.
Grifols
Global healthcare company Grifols employs about 20,000 people across 30 countries. Its Dublin office serves as the management centre for the global bioscience division as well as a hub for labelling packing, final conditioning and distribution of finished plasma products.
The company, which specialises in plasma-derived medicines, has invested around €300m in Ireland since 2012 and in 2022, the company announced a new specialist plant and a plan to create up to 200 jobs.
Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
A subsidiary of the well-known brand, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine focuses on developing pharmaceutical treatments across a variety of areas, including oncology, immunology, haematology, pulmonary, hypertension and neuroscience.
Having previously operated under the Janssen brand, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine has had a presence in Ireland since 1981 with a strong footprint across three pharma sites, spanning R&D and manufacturing operations in Cork and a country commercial business in Dublin.
MSD
MSD has a long history in Ireland, with several major sites around the country. These sites are involved in the production of more than 60pc of the company’s global top 20 products.
In 2022, the company announced plans to create 100 new jobs in major expansion to its Carlow facility and at the beginning of this year, MSD announced the acquisition of WuXi Vaccines’ Dundalk site, with plans to hire 1,000 people in counties Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Louth, Meath and Tipperary in the coming years.
Pfizer
Pfizer is the largest biopharma company in the world and has a significant presence in Ireland, with a number of sites across the country and the company’s Covid-19 vaccine was also manufactured in Ireland in 2021.
Pfizer’s Irish sites manufacture vaccines and medicines in the areas of arthritis, inflammation, cancer, anti-infectives, haemophilia, pain and stroke.
Sanofi
French global biopharmaceutical company Sanofi produces drugs across a broad swathe of therapeutic disciplines, treating illnesses such as MS and diabetes.
The company purchased Waterford-based Genzyme in 2011 and then invested €44m in the Waterford campus to increase production of insulin product Lantus and announced a further 40 jobs for the site in 2016.
WuXi Biologics
WuXi Biologics, headquartered in China, is an open-access biologics technology platform that offers end-to-end services in order to accelerate the development and manufacturing of biologics.
While the company has sold its vaccines site to MSD, WuXi still has a presence in Ireland and is still looking to fill roles at its other Dundalk site.
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