THERE is a massive jobs boost for the region tonight after healthcare company Abbott said will invest €85m into expanding its Sligo pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, which will create about 175 highly skilled jobs and 150 temporary construction jobs in the process.
A number of current employees of the company are from Co Donegal and commute to the facility each day.
The extra space for manufacturing operations to support Abbott’s future pharmaceutical pipeline in therapeutic areas of virology, oncology and nephrology. It will provide additional capacity in Abbot’s global pharmaceutical manufacturing network. The expansion of the facility will be completed in 2014 and the investment is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.
The new jobs will include skilled roles in engineering, quality, pharmaceutical science and other science-based areas. The majority of jobs will be added during construction and the remainder will be recruited after the expansion is complete.
In addition to these 175 jobs, another 150 temporary jobs will be created in construction.
“Abbott has had a presence in Ireland for more than 65 years and began manufacturing in the country in 1974,” said Dr Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, president of Global Pharmaceutical Operations at Abbott.
“Sligo is an important part of Abbott’s pharmaceutical manufacturing network and we are pleased to expand it to support future production needs. The success of our Sligo facility is due to the dedication of its staff and management.
“This state-of-the-art expansion will enable us to produce innovative therapies that we expect will represent significant advances in the treatment of cancer, chronic kidney disease and viral infections,” said Saleki-Gerhardt.
Barry O’Leary, CEO of Ireland, welcomed the announcement, saying that Abbott Ireland is of “key importance” to Ireland’s life sciences sector, which contributes substantially to Ireland’s export economy.
“(Abbott) is part of a strong cluster of life-sciences companies in the northwest region, which is hugely important to the local economy,” said O’Leary.
‘’Abbott, with 13 manufacturing, commercial and shared services sites across the country, continues to go from strength to strength and employs nearly 4,000 people. I wish Abbott Ireland every success with this new venture and offer the continued support of IDA Ireland as the company further develops its Irish operations,” he said.
