West to build new manufacturing plant in Ireland
pharmafile | October 6, 2014 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | Ireland, Pharma services, US, manufacturing, west
West Pharmaceutical Services which focusses on injectable drug administration, is expanding its global manufacturing operations to include a new site in Waterford, Ireland.
The new facility will produce packaging components for insulin injector cartridges and other high-value packaging components, in order to meet growing demand from pharmaceutical and biotech customers.
Once operational, this new site could bring around 150 new jobs to Waterford and is intended to grow to support additional jobs through future expansions.
Donald Morel Jr., West’s chairman and chief executive, says: “With diabetes emerging as one of the fastest growing diseases globally, our pharmaceutical customers are expanding their production lines for injectable insulin. 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 centre of excellence for advanced packaging components to meet the needs of our customer base for a range of sophisticated injectable therapies.
“Waterford, Ireland, is an ideal setting for this new plant, given its business-friendly environment and the growing health science industry in the area,” Morel adds. “On behalf of West’s board of directors, I would like to thank the many representatives of Waterford City, the Irish Government and the Irish Development Agency for their support.”
Construction is planned to begin in early 2015 on the 44-acre site at Knockhouse on Old Kilmeaden Road in Waterford, subject to the project obtaining requisite planning and zoning approvals, which the company believes will occur later this year.
This site will become a ‘centre of excellence’ for West’s proprietary elastomeric sheeting, which is used to package insulin for use in pen injectors.
Future plans include additional manufacturing space for West’s proprietary injectable component product lines, which are integral to many injectable and dosage forms.
With these expansions, the plant eventually could accommodate between 250 to 300 jobs and involve an investment in the range of €100 million.
Martin Shanahan, chief executive at IDA Ireland, says: “Ireland has succeeded in attracting over 250 medical device manufacturers employing over 25,000 people in locations across the country.
“The IDA and its local stakeholders have fought off stiff competition to have this plant located in Ireland. This project is a vote of confidence in the people of Waterford.”
West has had a presence in Ireland since 2005 with a manufacturing and development centre in Dublin. It currently employs around 230 people at its Mulhuddart, Dublin facility.
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