Fifth of workforce to be cut at Cork plant

Pharmaceutical giant Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) is to axe 90 jobs at its Co Cork plant — almost a fifth of its workforce — over the next six months.

The company, which employs 2,300 at sites in Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Tipperary, and Wicklow, has been forced to scale back production at the Brinny facility near Bandon following a global review.

It said it has enough quantities of the drug interferon to meet current and near-future demand, and that it will also be scaling back the production of its hepatitis C drug.