New plant will play a pivotal role in manufacture of MSD’s biologics-based medicines.
MSD is to create up to 350 new jobs at a new biologics facility that will be known as MSD Biotech.
The new plant will be constructed on existing MSD-owned property where its former Swords facility was located.
Details on open roles at MSD are available here.
MSD currently employs more than 1,700 people across four sites in Ireland: Carlow, Cork, Dublin and Tipperary. Its extensive Irish operations, encompassing manufacturing, commercial and marketing facilities, had a turnover of €4.7bn in 2016.
The new biologics facility in Swords will play a pivotal role in the manufacture of MSD’s biologics-based medicines, including in the area of immuno-oncology, and will expand MSD’s current internal network of biologics drug substance manufacturing plants.
Site preparation and facility design will commence immediately. Full manufacturing operations are expected to begin in 2021.
The company said that the decision to locate this new facility in Ireland was testament to the talent of MSD’s Irish employees and the high standard of its existing operations, and reinforces MSD’s commitment to the country.
Last year, MSD announced plans to create 330 new jobs and invest €280m up to 2020 at two of its three other Irish manufacturing sites.
The new jobs announced in Carlow and Cork were a result of increased global demand for MSD’s medicines and vaccines produced in Ireland, while the investment will see both sites expand production facilities and capacity to meet that demand.
MSD continues to significantly invest in R&D to invent new vaccines and medicines for areas of unmet need.
In early February 2018, the company announced its plans to invest $12bn globally over five years in capital projects, with $8bn of that investment to be made in the US.
MSD’s legacy in Ireland
MSD has a strong legacy in Ireland that stretches back over the last 50 years, and has seen the company invest more than $2.5bn in expanding and developing its facilities here.
The company provides healthcare solutions and innovative medicines in areas such as diabetes, heart disease, immuno-oncology, infectious diseases and vaccines.
MSD in Brinny, Co Cork, is an integrated site for the development, testing and manufacturing of biologics, specialising in the fermentation, purification and sterile filling of biotech products. Brinny produces some of the company’s most important treatments, including medicines for lung cancer, melanoma, hepatitis C and rheumatoid arthritis.
MSD in Carlow is a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, and the company’s first standalone vaccine and biologics facility outside the US. Carlow also is an important link in MSD’s global network of sites, producing its new immuno-oncology treatment for the global market.
MSD’s other existing Irish site is in Ballydine, Co Tipperary. MSD Ballydine develops and supplies the active ingredients and final formulated product for a range of innovative medicines at its manufacturing and R&D facilities. The plant exports to more than 30 countries around the world with primary markets being Europe, the US and Japan.
