Biotech giant Shire is to create 400 new permanent jobs in Piercetown, Co Meath. The company is about to begin construction of a new manufacturing operation on a 120-acre site.
The roles at Shire’s new campus in Meath will consist of highly-skilled, full-time jobs in the areas of R&D, operations, technical staff, engineering and construction.
The new operation will employ the latest bioprocessing techniques and flexible production strategies, enabling it to supply both clinical and commercial-scale products.
‘Ireland is an attractive location for many industries, but for the life sciences and biotechnology sectors in particular’
– MARTIN SHANAHAN, IDA IRELAND
“The expansion supports our manufacturing strategy to develop and provide innovative specialty medicines for patients,” said Tim Kelly, Shire’s senior vice-president of technical operations.
“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 that will complement our existing manufacturing operations in the US.”
Ireland has the edge in biotech
As well as the 400 permanent jobs, the expansion will create more than 700 additional jobs during construction, said Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD.
Construction on the site will begin in mid-2016 and the plant will be fully operational by mid-2019.
“Ireland is an attractive location for many industries, but for the life sciences and biotechnology sectors in particular,” said IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan.
“These are sectors in which we excel and we are very pleased that Shire is building on its existing presence here with the development of a new campus at Piercetown, Co Meath.
“This investment by Shire demonstrates not only IDA’s strategy of attracting biotechnology investment to Ireland but also our focus on supporting balanced regional economic development. It is also worth noting that this is the second significant investment for Meath in the past six months. The scale of this investment will have a substantial economic impact on Co Meath and the wider mid-east region.”
Meath image via Shutterstock
