Cork takes brunt of job losses after 40 years of growth

WHEN Pfizer began construction of its first plant in Ringaskiddy in 1969, there was a hope that the facility producing citric acid and gluconate products would be the first of many which would ultimately make Cork and Ireland a global giant in the pharmaceutical trade.

The omens were good when, as early as 1972, a further production plant was already constructed at Ringaskiddy to produce bulk pharmaceutical products.

By 1994, investment had already topped €1bn. Two years later the company began developing Lipitor, the cholesterol drug which would earn the company €10 billion per annum.