Biotech giant will use NIBRT to train employees for the company’s new facility in Meath.
Last year, Shire Pharmaceuticals officially opened a new city centre Irish HQ, having moved from west Dublin.
The biotech giant is currently developing a new, innovative biologics manufacturing facility on a 120-acre site in Dunboyne, Co Meath.
The state-of-the-art facility will adopt single-use technology in the manufacturing processes and it will be the European quality control hub for the company’s biologics portfolio.
Recruitment is currently underway across manufacturing, quality assurance, engineering, automation and other areas, with approximately 400 people expected to work at the site.
Now, Shire has announced a collaboration with the National Institute of Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT).
The global biotech company will also use NIBRT-GE’s Single-Use Centre of Excellence to train new employees who will start at Shire’s new facility. Single-use technology is important for Shire’s biologics product portfolio.
The partnership will see Shire benefit from training all employees at NIBRT’s world-class training and research facility as well as the opportunity to base 20 employees at the NIBRT facility for a 12-month period to expand their capabilities in preparation for activities at the new facility in Dunboyne.
Susan Hynes, site lead for the Dunboyne facility, said: “NIBRT is uniquely positioned to support Shire and enrich our employees through customised training programmes.”
NIBRT CEO Dominic Carolan said Shire’s major expansion in Dunboyne is a statement of confidence in its commitment to Ireland.
“The biopharma manufacturing sector continues to thrive in Ireland,” he said. “The NIBRT-GE Single-Use Centre of Excellence features the latest technologies, which will enable us to provide Shire with customised, high-quality training programmes in all aspects of single-use biopharma manufacturing, supported by Emerson Automation Solutions. We look forward to welcoming the first Shire employees later this year.”
Shire is a global leader in serving patients with rare diseases. The company provides therapies across areas including haematology, immunology, genetic diseases, neuroscience and internal medicine, with growing therapeutic areas in ophthalmics and oncology.
