Pharmaceutical giant Lilly is gearing up to invest €330m into its Kinsale, Co Cork, campus. The new biopharmaceutical facility will be on the lookout for up to 200 highly skilled employees when it’s fully operational, IDA Ireland has confirmed this morning.
As well as that, IDA Ireland said 300 construction jobs would be created on the site during the building phase.
IDA Ireland said the planned 240,000 sq-foot biopharmaceutical commercialisation and manufacturing facility would further enhance the company’s ability to bring treatments for illnesses, such as cancer and diabetes, to patients worldwide.
Biopharma focus
Today’s announcement is the second large investment Lilly has made at its Kinsale site in recent years. In 2006, the company announced a €300m investment in its first biopharmaceutical manufacturing and new-product commercialisation facility at its Kinsale campus. This came to fruition in 2010.
Speaking this morning, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton spoke about the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, published recently. He said one of the Government’s aims in 2012 would be to target high-end manufacturing and health/life sciences sectors for further growth, as well as deepening the footprint of multinationals that set up Irish bases.
“Today’s announcement that this world-leading company is making a substantial investment in expanding its facility in Kinsale with the creation of up to 200 permanent jobs shows what is possible in these areas,” said Bruton.
Technical talent base in Kinsale
Ed Canary, general manager of the Kinsale site, spoke about the facility’s success in developing a biopharmaceutical business in recent years. “It demonstrates our ability to rise to that challenge. This is in no small part due to the site’s excellent performance record, the talent of the workforce, and the support from IDA Ireland,” he said.
Canary also said Lilly in Kinsale had taken on and trained some “highly talented” hires in the past five years
“We now have a technical talent base and capability in biopharmaceutical commercialisation and manufacturing that makes us a very attractive company for highly skilled people,” he said.
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Lilly has been in Ireland for more than 30 years. It now employs around 700 people in four operations in Kinsale, Cork City, Sligo and Dublin.
