October 2, 2014
By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
West Pharmaceutical Services announced today that it will expand its manufacturing operations to include a new site in Waterford, Ireland, which could potentially bring up to 150 new jobs to the area.
The facility itself will be geared toward producing packaging components for the insulin injector cartridges that West Pharmaceuticals creates, as well as other high-value packaging components.
“With diabetes emerging as one of the fastest growing diseases globally, our pharmaceutical customers are expanding their production lines for injectable insulin,” said Donald Morel, West’s chairman and chief executive officer. “To meet this growing demand, we are announcing an expansion today that will help us address this need and continue to serve this critical patient population. In the future, we intend for this site to be a center of excellence for advanced packaging components to meet the needs of our customer base for a range of sophisticated injectable therapies.”
Construction on the site is slated to begin in early 2015 on a 44-acre site. However, the plan as a whole may change depending on zoning approvals. In the future, the company hopes to add more manufacturing space for its injectable component product lines. The Waterford operations could eventually provide up to 300 jobs to residents in the area.
“I am delighted with this announcement of a new manufacturing facility in the South East by West Pharmaceutical Services which will create 100 construction jobs during its development and an initial 150 new jobs when operational,” said Taoiseach Enda Kenny. “It is a massive boost for Waterford and the entire South East and I am happy that government was able to assist through the work of the IDA. The Government is determined to secure economic recovery by incentivising job creation and further investment in the area. Today’s announcement continues our strong track record on attracting employers in the medical devices sector and we will continue to prioritizegovernment support for sectors with real growth potential through our Action Plan for Jobs.”
West Pharmaceutical Services has been present in Ireland since 2005. The company has a manufacturing and development center in Dublin, which is the European headquarters for The Tech Group, a West Pharmaceutical subsidiary.
“As a Board, we have a longstanding track record of consistently acting in the best interests of Allergan’s stockholders by delivering superior performance as prudent stewards of capital,” the board members said. “Thus, while we will not comment on market rumors or speculation, we remain focused on our shared commitment to enhancing stockholder value.”
