Drugs giant Alexion is building a huge new €100m pharmaceutical plant in Athlone
The company said that the project will create 50 new jobs at the site.
US DRUGS GIANT Alexion is building a new €100 million facility in Athlone that will create 50 new jobs at the site.
The company, which already employs 50 people in Athlone, said that the €100 million investment will take the total employment at the lot to 100 and result in the construction of a new metre biologics manufacturing facility at the site.
The plant will be about 5,500 square metres, slightly smaller than an average soccer pitch.
Biologics are manufactured in a living system such as a microorganism, or plant or animal cells, as opposed to most drugs which typically made through chemical synthesis, which means that they are created by combining specific chemical ingredients in an ordered process.
Alexion established a presence in Athlone in 2014 where it set up a a vial fill-finish facility.
More jobs
Alexion is also currently building a large-scale bulk biologics manufacturing facility at a Dublin site in College Park.
Between its facilities in Athlone and College Park, Alexion currently employs over 250 people in Ireland, and expects to continue to grow to almost 500 employees by the end of 2019.
Julie O’Neill, executive vice president of global operations at Alexion, said that Ireland “is a key location for Alexion’s global operations and we are committed to further developing our manufacturing facilities in the country to support increasing production needs of our therapies.”
The company said it has announced investments worth a combined total of €600 million in Ireland since 2014.
Local talent
Grainne McAleese, the general manager at Alexion Ireland, said that the investment demonstrates the company’s commitment “to job growth in Ireland and the Athlone region”, adding that the firm is looking to hire the best talent locally as part of the expansion.
She added: “We already have a well-established presence in Athlone, with a great local workforce, and we are very firmly committed to this region going forward.”
Alexion is best known for its development of Soliris, a life-saving drug used to treat patients with rare blood diseases such as Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria, which is a disorder that destroys red blood cells.
Last year the HSE decided to extend access of the life-saving but expensive drug for several Irish patients. The organisation had previously entered into an agreement with Alexion that made the drug available to ten patients at St James’ Hospital.
