Future for 136 Pfizer workers hangs in balance
The pharmaceutical giant, with an Irish headquarters in Ringaskiddy, intends to close a facility in Little Island, on the outskirts of Cork City.
Most of the jobs, it emerged, will be saved if a new buyer is found for the smaller plant.
The company yesterday announced it intends to close the Little Island facility by Sept 2014. It is transferring products manufactured there to Ringaskiddy.
A small number of workers may be transferred to Ringaskiddy as vacancies arise but, for the vast majority of the 136 workers, their future is uncertain.
Pfizer management said, in conjunction with state investment agencies, they would try to sell off the plant as a going concern.
The company employs 3,200 people in Ireland at six sites in Cork, Kildare and Dublin. There are employed in manufacturing, shared services, finance and commercial operations.
Pfizer was previously successful in selling a plant in Dublin to US biotech group Amgen and it also disposed of more than a dozen plants worldwide.
Management informed workers at a 9.30am meeting at the plant yesterday the decision to close was part of global efforts to better align manufacturing capacity.
The decision was in response to manufacturing reductions following the expiration of patents for some products.
Pfizer vice-president Dr Paul Duffy said the consolidation was due to patents expiring on several of its key medicines and the need to achieve greater efficiencies in manufacturing.
“The proposed relocation of these medicines to Ringaskiddy is necessary for our Irish operations as we strive to further enhance our ability to compete even more effectively in a changing global pharmaceutical market,” Dr Duffy said.
Despite this, he insisted Ireland remained a key strategic location for Pfizer.
Seamus Fives, the company’s site leader in Little Island, said the facility has an excellent reputation and won many awards for quality, safety, operational excellence and innovation.
“This is a very difficult time for colleagues affected who deserve recognition for the great contribution they have made to manufacturing some of Pfizer’s leading medicines,” Mr Fives said.
“Patent loss means we must now compete with generic equivalents and generic manufacturers. The manufacturing environment has become much more challenging and greater competitiveness is needed so we can continue to play a strong role in the manufacture of Pfizer’s new and off-patent medicines,” he said.
The company has invested €5.4bn in its operations here since opening its first plant in 1969.
Pfizer recently announced a €155m investment at its Biotech Campus in Grange Castle, Dublin to expand the manufacturing of an pneumococcal vaccine.
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