Abbott pumps $450M+ into new Ireland-based manufacturing site project and hiring spree
As Ireland continues to see more investments and building projects from pharma companies, another contender is looking to place more investment in the Emerald Isle.
According to a report from The Irish Times on Friday, Abbott Laboratories is investing €440 million, or about $451 million, to build a new manufacturing plant in Kilkenny, located in the country’s southeast, to make more of its glucose monitors.
According to an Abbott spokesperson in an email to Endpoints News, the company anticipates that more than 800 people will be employed at the Kilkenny facility once it opens, and the remainder will be employed at its site in Donegal.
“Donegal is a key manufacturing site for Abbott’s diabetes care business, and we have invested heavily in expanding our operations there over the last four years. We’re increasing our capital investment in Donegal including facilities, production equipment and adding people to enable Donegal to better support our products globally,” the Abbott spokesperson said.
For the new 250,000 square-foot building in Kilkenny, the company will start recruitment immediately for positions in engineering, quality control and medical device manufacturing, among others. The site, which the company hopes to have online by 2024, will be responsible for the manufacture of its Freestyle Libre 3 system for continuous glucose monitoring. And the company is bullish that it can find the talent.
“The new location of Kilkenny is attractive to our future employees as the region has strong educational links with the South-East Technological University, enabling us to attract graduates from its Waterford and Carlow campuses,” the spokesperson said.
Abbot has had a heavy presence in Ireland for over 75 years and currently employs more than 5,000 people across nine sites. However, Abbott’s further commitment comes at a time when several other major pharmas are looking to snap up Irish soil for manufacturing.
Merck KGaA, Alexion, Eli Lilly and SK have all announced either new major multimillion-dollar sites or expansion projects across the country this year, and the news from Abbott shows that the speed of manufacturing development isn’t slowing down.