Swiss pharmaceutical firms Novartis and Lonza separately deepened their push into so-called biosimilars, betting cheaper copies of name-brand drugs will make headway among cost-conscious governments.

Undeveloped, underused and untenanted — the country is littered with vacant IDA sites seeking to attract foreign direct investment. The situation is particulary stark for rural areas. Pádraig Hoare investigates,

Carrigtwohill in East Cork is being lined up by Ikea, the world’s largest furniture retailer, for its second full retail store in the Republic of Ireland, with a promise of around 500 retail jobs locally.

More than a decade after Amgen announced a €1bn investment in Cork with the promise of 1,100 jobs, the chosen site remains idle after the promise failed to materialise.

Cork County Council would immediately relinquish commercial rates and local property tax (LPT) worth in excess of €16m per year if its revised plan for the city council boundary extension is accepted by the Implementation Oversight Group.

The Dow Jones industrial average missed the 20,000 mark by a fraction of a point on Friday as US stock indexes rose after the government said wages jumped in December, but two other major indexes set records.

Pfizer has agreed to buy Anacor Pharmaceuticals for $5.2bn (€4.6bn), gaining control of an experimental treatment for eczema in its first deal since walking away from a $160bn takeover of botox maker Allergan.

The €13 million sale agreed of East Cork’s Castlemartyr Resort to UK buyer Martin Shaw could prove fortuitous: business sources say interest is picking up for a major new biotech employer for a sizeable portion of the Amgen pharma site in Carrigtwohill east of Cork city, which was moth-balled after a major infrastructural investment and land-buying spree almost a decade ago.

Biotechnology company Amgen, which yesterday unveiled its €260m facility in Dún Laoghaire, has launched two science education courses aimed at reaching more than 53,000 students and hundreds of teachers.

Four companies have shown strong interests in acquiring the former Amgen site in east Cork, which was once earmarked for 1,100 bio-pharmaceutical jobs.

London Mayor Boris Johnson is proposing a £10bn (€14bn) fund to encourage growth of emerging healthcare companies in the UK in an effort to catch up to biotechnology clusters in the US.

US stocks rose for a second day after an encouraging report on retail sales suggested that Americans are finally feeling confident enough to spend more.

Ireland has an infrastructure constraint that is hampering regions such as Cork in continuing to attract multinational companies to our shores.

One of the world’s leading medical technology companies is expected to announce the creation of hundreds of jobs with a multi-million euro investment in a new global centre of excellence in Co Cork.

Irish Water has sanctioned a new €12m waste water treatment plant which will enhance an east Cork town’s potential for further industrial and residential development.

Biologic drug-maker Amgen is to shed 12 to 15% of its worldwide workforce and close four sites, despite reporting stellar second-quarter results that trounced Wall Street expectations.

Shares in Shire hit a record high yesterday on expectations of a takeover as dealmaking sweeps the drugs sector, after Reuters reported the group had hired investment bank Citi as a defence adviser.

Pfizer may come back to bid for British drug company AstraZeneca after its reported £60bn (€73bn) takeover approach was rejected, since a deal could make sense for the US pharmaceuticals giant as it seeks to build up its cancer franchise.

New signs of life in the manufacturing sector helped push the US stock market to a record high today.

A new class of experimental medicines can dramatically lower cholesterol, raising hopes of a fresh option for people who cannot tolerate or do not get enough help from Lipitor and other statins used for decades.

One of the world’s leading biotechnology companies has said it has no intention of resuscitating a €820m plan to create a 1,100-job factory in Co Cork.

Cork-based building management systems company Sirus is starting the New Year with plans to develop sales in Britain and a short listing for a Small Firms Association Award.

Some 570 jobs at a pharmaceutical giant are being axed and scores of others are under threat at a major fashion retailer.

Four potential sites have been identified in Cork for a national sugar beet processing factory.

Workers at a Pfizer plant in Co Cork face an agonising wait on the future of 136 jobs.

Elan Corp considered buying New York investment firm Royalty Pharma last year, about six months before Royalty Pharma turned around with an acquisition proposal for Elan that’s now valued at about $5.7bn (€4.33bn).

Cork software development company OneLook Systems is planning an aggressive sales push in the US this year with an electronic permit-to-work solution for regulated industries called SafePermit.

The number of job opportunities in Ireland decreased slightly during the past month, according to the Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor.

Senior decision-makers in multinational companies "are considering investing in Ireland but are concerned about the possible fallout of a No vote" in the upcoming EU fiscal treaty referendum, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has claimed.

The Taoiseach has denied that he fell asleep during a jobs announcement in Dublin.

Ireland's highly-skilled workforce is being praised as the reason for the latest foreign direct investment project here.

The pharmaceutical giant AMGEN has today announced the creation of new positions as part of a €150m expansion of the former Pfizer facility in Dun Laoghaire.

Ireland’s plan to develop its health innovation hub will see the pharmaceutical sector surpass its record €55bn annual exports, according to John Perry, the minister for small business.

A near-$30 billion (€22.8bn) bid for Shire could emerge as the standout deal in the European pharmaceutical sector this year, a highlight for bankers in a market otherwise likely to be dominated by bolt-on acquisitions.

MORE than 140 jobs at a US-owned medical devices plant in Cork are being moved to China and Malaysia because of competitiveness and cost issues.

Pfizer have been unable to find a buyer for the Loughbeg and Shanbally facilities in Cork in the last 10 months — meaning the jobs of the 300 workers at the two plants are still in jeopardy.

AMGEN is to purchase Pfizer’s Dun Laoghaire manufacturing facility in a deal that could save 240 jobs.

The largest biotechnology company in the world, Amgen has announced that it is to purchase the Pfizer manufacturing facility in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

SPECULATION is mounting that US biotechnology giant Amgen has finally abandoned its plans to create 1,100 jobs at a plant in Co Cork and instead has decided to launch its European operations with a takeover of Pfizer’s factory in Dun Laoghaire.

IN 2003, big, detached houses on large sites in east Cork’s Ashbrook, near Carrigtwohill, were priced at €500,000. This had risen to €900,000 by 2006, when Amgen was optimistically mooted as a major local pharma sector employer. Prices have been sliding since.

LANCE ARMSTRONG’S cycling Team RadioShack last night claimed Floyd Landis had threatened Armstrong in text messages before making his allegations against the seven-time Tour de France winner.

Lance Armstrong’s Team RadioShack tonight hit back at Floyd Landis and claimed the disgraced American rider has been threatening to make what they insist are “false accusations” of doping against Armstrong for over two years.

ONE of Cork’s most successful publicans and restaurateurs says those in the trade will have todiversify or face the risk of closing down.