WATERFORD, Ireland—West Pharmaceutical Services will make major investment in a new manufacturing facility in Waterford, Ireland, which has been described as a massive boost by Enda Kenny, the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister).
The facility will initially produce packaging components for insulin injector cartridges and other packaging components. Following a later expansion, the plant eventually could employ 250 to 300 people and will involve a total investment in the range of about $125 million, the U.S. group said.
"I am delighted with this announcement of a new manufacturing facility in the Southeast by West Pharmaceutical Services which will create 100 construction jobs during its development and an initial 150 new jobs when operational,” Kenny said in a statement. “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 (Irish Development Agency).”
West Pharma said construction is scheduled to begin in early 2015 on a 44-acre site in Waterford, subject to the project obtaining requisite planning and zoning approvals.
The facility will become a center of excellence for West Pharma's proprietary elastomeric sheeting, which is used to package insulin for use in pen injectors. The company plans a future expansion of manufacturing space for its proprietary injectable component product lines, which it says are integral to many injectable and dosage forms.
"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," said Donald E. Morel Jr., West Pharma's chairman and CEO.
Tech Group, a subsidiary of West Pharma, has its European headquarters at a facility in Dublin, which produces medical devices. The facility employs 230 people and is also undergoing an expansion as a result of new business from its customers.