West expands operations in Ireland

DUBLIN—West Pharmaceutical Services Inc.'s operation in Ireland is expanding rapidly.

The company has completed the expansion of a 60,000-sq.-ft. addition to one of the plants in the firm's contract molding complex in Mulhuddart, Ireland, which is located about seven miles northwest of Dublin, according to a spokeswoman. The addition will be operational in the first quarter.

Exton, Pa.-headquartered West also is in the midst of building a new pharmaceutical component manufacturing plant in Waterford, Ireland.

Its expansion in Mulhuddart is in response to customer demand for medical device manufacturing, especially in the area of products used for diabetes, the company said.

As a contract manufacturing facility, the spokeswoman said, the Mulhuddart site offers complex molding and assembly services, makes a variety of medical devices—such as auto injectors and glucose monitoring systems—and supplies device engineering support.

West's original facility in the city spanned 40,000 square feet, she said, "and since then we have expanded it twice and the total square footage of all the buildings (in the complex) is now 160,000 square feet."

With a current work force of about 350, the company anticipates it will add approximately 100 new jobs at the expanded plant in the complex over the next five years, she said.

In addition, new high volume complex assembly lines and injection molding machinery is being added at the site, the spokeswoman added.

"As the health care market becomes increasingly complex, West is advancing our core competencies in the development, manufacturing and final packaging of complex drug delivery systems and diagnostic devices for our customers," according to Karen Flynn, senior vice president and chief commercial officer of the company.

Meanwhile, the company is in the midst of constructing a new facility in Waterford that it anticipates will be completed and begin commercial operations in 2018.

Expected to span about 95,000 square feet, the plant is situated on a 44-acre site in the city, the spokeswoman said.

She said the facility will function as a center of excellence for the firm's proprietary elastomeric sheeting, which is used to package insulin for use in pen injectors. It also will include manufacturing capacity for additional proprietary injectable component product lines, which she said are integral to the packaging of many injectable medicines.

"Production of Westar RS Ready-to-Sterilize, Envision, Westar RU Ready-to-Use and NovaPure components, West's highest quality packaging component line will be included," according to the spokeswoman.

West has found Ireland an attractive place to manufacture pharmaceutical products because it provides "a great talent pool of skilled life sciences professionals. Additionally, we have several customers who have offices in Ireland," the spokeswoman said.

It has operated in the country since 2005, she noted, and "it is clear that Ireland is committed to the life sciences industries from the number of companies who choose to do business here and the commitment from the government and educational institutions."

Both the expanded plant and the new facility in Ireland are part of the company's Tech Group, West's contract manufacturing business, which now will be aligned with the West brand and do business as West, the company said.

It said the transition reflects the significance of contract manufacturing in the company's long-term strategy as a leader in integrated packaging and delivery for injectable medicines.

"As the health care market becomes increasingly complex, West is advancing our core competencies in the development, manufacturing and final packaging of complex drug delivery systems and diagnostic devices for our customers," according Flynn.

West's experience in contract manufacturing dates back 50 years to when the Tech Group was founded. The company has had contract manufacturing offices in Dublin since 1998.

West recently was the recipient of multiple honors for innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, including the 2016 UBM India Pharma Award for the leading company in delivery and safety for injectable drugs in the country and the Irish Medtech Excellence Award for partner of the year.

India's award recognized pharmaceutical industry companies that create a difference through excellence and innovation.

In Ireland, the Irish Medical Devices Association selected West for its award because of the company's contributions in making the country's technology ecosystem successful by executing an innovative, long-term vision for sustainable growth along with demonstrating improved operations and a focus on giving back to the communities in which it operates.

West received the UBM India Excellence Award on Nov. 18 in Mumbai, India, and the Medtech Excellence Award on Dec. 8. in Galway, Ireland.