Pharma firm MSD to create 200 positions in Irish expansion

Three counties are set for a significant employment boost today with healthcare company MSD to announce 200 new jobs across a range of disciplines in Cork, Carlow, and Tipperary.

The New Jersey-based pharmaceuticals company will add the roles to its existing Irish workforce of more than 2,000 staff.

MSD’s Carlow facility will receive the bulk of the new positions with 110 new jobs to be filled, while 50 will be created at its Cork base and a further 40 in Tipperary.

The company’s expansion will cement its presence in Ireland where medicines destined for the world market are made, according to MSD Tipperary site lead and associate vice president, Ger Carmody.

“This announcement reflects the critical role MSD’s Irish sites play in our wider global manufacturing network.

"Those taking up these new roles will be at the cutting edge of healthcare innovation and will play a key role in delivering MSD’s overall ambition to preserve and improve human life.

“Our state-of-the-art facilities in Carlow, Cork, and Tipperary are leading the way in the development of new medicines, including MSD’s new treatments for cancer and hepatitis C, which are being manufactured in Ireland for the world market.

“Today, our Irish sites are involved in the production of over 60% of MSD’s global top 20 products,” Mr Carmody said.

New positions will be available across operations, quality, engineering, supply chain, and commercial operations.

MSD in Carlow, the firm’s only standalone vaccine and biologics facility outside the US, is creating roles spanning production, engineering and quality control.

The company’s Cork facility in Brinny, which specialises in the fermentation and sterile filling of biotech products, is looking for staff in manufacturing, quality, technology, engineering, and environmental and safety.

Meanwhile, MSD’s Tipperary plant which is involved in the R&D, formulation and manufacture of pharmaceutical ingredients, will recruit employees in processing and chemical engineering, among other roles, by the end of the year.

In 2014, the company’s Irish operations generated turnover of €3bn from sales of its medicines for a range of conditions including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and hepatitis C.

Meanwhile, Dutch firm Interxion is to create more than 100 construction jobs in building its Irish third data centre, in Grange Castle Business Park in Dublin.

The data centre services company will invest €28m in the first two phases of the four phase project.

The first two phases of the centre, named DUB3, are expected to be operational by the end of the year and will provide access to more than 40 carriers and internet service providers, as well as the Irish Internet Exchange whose core node is based at Interxion’s existing Dublin data centre campus.