A new €150 million biopharmaceutical manufacturing campus is to be created at IDA Ireland's site in Loughbeg, Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, it has been announced.

GE will invest in the facility, and subject to contract and planning approvals, GE BioPark Cork will feature the Europe's first KUBio, prefabricated, off-the-shelf bio-manufacturing facilities, owned and run by GE customers. It will also serve as a key focal point for further investment in next-generation biopharmaceutical manufacturing in Ireland.

When fully operational, more than 500 new jobs are expected to be created at the site; 400 with biopharma companies and a further 100 employed directly by GE. The construction phase is expected to begin by mid-2017 and create up to 800 construction jobs. The project is being supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.

In addition to the above, GE and the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) also announced a plan to create a NIBRT-GE Single-use Centre of Excellence at NIBRT's Dublin facility.

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NIBRT expects to train up to 1,500 bioprocessing professionals annually on next-generation biologic manufacturing technologies. These technologies for biopharma manufacturing will be used in GE BioPark Cork’s manufacturing facilities.

GE BioPark Cork will be a GE-managed campus including four fully-equipped KUBio factories owned by independent biopharma companies manufacturing proprietary medicines, with GE running centralised shared utilities and site services.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, said: "The Biopharma industry makes a huge contribution to the Irish economy in terms of jobs and manufacturing exports, and is one of the fastest growing sectors. I am delighted that GE is making a significant investment in Cork.

"This is a further testament to our talented workforce. All investment and jobs created has a positive knock on effect on the wider region. Over 28,000 people currently work in biopharma and 6,000 of those work in biologics.

"This subsector is expected to double in the coming years and will provide both a challenge and an opportunity for the industry and training providers to collaborate on promoting the range of career opportunities available."

Kieran Murphy, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), GE Healthcare Life Sciences, GE Healthcare, added: "Pharma companies world-wide are racing to respond to patient needs with new life-changing biological medicines and GE is investing in technology and service solutions, as well as industry skills and expertise, to enable them to make and get their products to market more quickly.

"We are delighted to be investing once again in Ireland, where we have ourselves a long history of manufacturing our own medical imaging products."

Dominic Carolan, CEO, NIBRT, commented: "NIBRT is delighted to partner with GE on the next generation of bioprocessing equipment, which will accelerate the introduction of these new technologies to the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry, helping to reduce manufacturing costs and increase the access to these valuable therapies."

(JP/LM)