Dive Brief:
- Janssen Sciences Ireland is putting €300 million ($355 million) into its 400,000 sq. meter Ringaskiddy, County Cork facility, creating 19,100 sq. meters more manufacturing space and employing an additional 450 people during construction.
- Work will begin during October 2017, including construction of a new manufacturing building, expansion of existing buildings, modification of site and infrastructure, and expansion of the on-site waste water treatment plant. It should be completed by late 2019.
- Once the expansion of the biopharmaceutical supply chain facility, which has been in operation since 2005, is completed, there will be be jobs for up to an additional 200 people.
Dive Insight:
The Ringaskiddy, County Cork facility will expand Janssen’s global manufacturing capacity of biologic medicines, which includes therapeutics for multiple myeloma, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn's disease. Johnson & Johnson has 11 sites across Ireland, including five other manufacturing sites, four commercial offices and an IT "center of excellence."
"Janssen has a considerable footprint in Ireland. This investment in Ringaskiddy will have a significant economic impact in the South West Region both during the construction phase and when the facility is fully operational," said Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland, an agency that promotes investment in Ireland.
Janssen currently employs around 555 people at Ringaskiddy, and the expansion will add an additional 200 jobs.
"I warmly welcome Janssen's ongoing commitment to Ireland with this expansion of its manufacturing facility in Ringaskiddy. The pharma industry makes a huge contribution to the Irish economy in terms of jobs and manufacturing exports, and is one of our fastest growing sectors," said Frances Fitzgerald, An Tánaiste and minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
Ireland has long been a safe-haven for the pharmaceutical industry due to its low corporate tax rate. Plenty of major pharmaceutical firms have either relocated their headquarters to the country or built manufacturing facilities there.
A number of the bigger pharma and biotech companies have invested in their biologics manufacturing over the past few months. In July, Boehringer Ingelheim broke ground on a $217 million expansion of its Fremont, Calf. multi-product manufacturing site. Lonza has snagged a facility in the San Francisco Bay Area from Shire for mammalian cell manufacturing. And Merck KGaA is investing in aseptic production lines in Bari, Italy.