Pfizer’s new €75m facility set to produce heart disease medication

DRUG giant Pfizer opened its new €75 million manufacturing facility in Loughbeg near Ringaskiddy yesterday.

The new plant, which will employ 40 people when fully operational, will bring the company’s total workforce in Ireland to more than 2,200.

It will produce an ingredient for drugs that will be used to treat heart disease by improving the levels of a positive cholesterol agent in the blood. Speaking at the opening ceremony for the new plant yesterday, Enterprise, Trade and Employment minister Micheál Martin said that Pfizer’s latest investment demonstrated the high esteem in which Ireland was held by major drug companies.

“This investment, and others over the past year, demonstrate the real confidence Pfizer, the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, has in Ireland as a location - not just for investment in manufacturing but in substantive technology development,” said Mr Martin.

“This investment will build on the expertise of the Loughbeg team and strategically enhance the facility’s position within the Pfizer group as a location for manufacturing.”

Pfizer global manufacturing president Nat Ricciardi said the company had decided to get the new facility up and running even though it would make medicine that had yet to be approved. “Having the operation up and running before our regulatory filings should facilitate the review process,” said Mr Ricciardi.

“This is the type of major financial commitment Pfizer is willing to make on an entirely new and yet-to-be-approved medicine because it has potential to improve lives of people around the world,” he added.

Pfizer’s manufacturing operations in Ireland are spread across facilities in Cork - Little Island, Loughbeg and Ringaskiddy - and Dun Laoghaire, south of Dublin city. The company also has marketing and financial shared services departments in Dublin andalso holds a banking licence to handle its treasury functions here.