Abbott plans to invest €85 million at its pharmaceutical manufacturing operation in Sligo. The investment will result in the creation of up to approximately 175 highly skilled jobs. The expansion of the facility will be completed in 2014. The investment is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

The expansion will provide additional space for manufacturing operations to support Abbott’s future pharmaceutical pipeline in the key therapeutic areas of virology, oncology and nephrology and provide additional capacity in Abbott's global pharmaceutical manufacturing network. The new jobs that will be created will be highly skilled and include roles in engineering, quality, pharmaceutical science and other science-based areas. The majority of the jobs will be added during the construction phase and the remainder will come on stream post the completion of the expansion. In addition, construction employment will create up to 150 temporary jobs.

-- Advertisement --

"Abbott has had a presence in Ireland for more than 65 years and began manufacturing in the country in 1974. 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 Dr. Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, President, Global Pharmaceutical Operations, Abbott.

Barry O'Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland welcomed the announcement and said: "Abbott Ireland is of key importance to Ireland’s life sciences sector and contributes substantially to Ireland's export economy. It is part of a strong cluster of life sciences companies in the Northwest region, which is hugely important to the local economy.’

(CD/GK)