Medical firm picks Limerick for €80m investment

A top US medical devices company has chosen Limerick to make its new product, creating 270 high-end graduate jobs.

Ethicon Biosurgery estimates that 650 jobs will be created in supply and support companies, while a further 150 people will be employed in the construction of a 60,000 sq ft facility at Plassey Technological Park over the coming year.

Ethicon Biosurgery is part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies, which employs 2,600 in this country, and has already recruited 90 of its new permanent workforce.

The Limerick plant will make a completely new product which the company has been working on for the past eight years. It is designed to stop bleeding during complicated surgical procedures.

The announcement comes just four months after another US biopharmaceutical giant, Regeneron, said it was developing a facility in the old Dell plant in Limerick City, creating 300 high-end jobs and 600 construction jobs.

Announcing the €80m Ethicon Biosurgery investment, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said: “Manufacturing is a central pillar of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs and we have put in place a series of measures to help reverse the decline in employment in this area in the past.”

Dan Wildman, president of Ethicon Biosurgery, said the decision to manufacture the new product, Evarrest Sealant Matrix, in Ireland was due to the unique clustering of medical device manufacturing, automation, and biomanufacturing skill sets across the Johnson & Johnson companies already operating here.

He said the Limerick facility will be making one of the most advanced medical products in the world.

Mr Wildman said: “We chose Limerick because Johnson & Johnson have been here for many years and decided on Limerick because of the unique clustering of medical devices manufacturing facilities and the skills’ sets here.”

Michael Noonan, the finance minister, said the clustering of a number of biopharmaceutical companies in Limerick such as Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, and Cook acted like a magnet to bring in more companies, such as Ethicon Biosurgery.

He said: “With each new investment, the attractiveness of Limerick as a world class hub for life science and high tech companies is growing.”

Barry O’Leary, the chief executive of IDA Ireland, said the investment was hugely significant for the mid-west region as a whole.

“Ethicon Biosurgery’s decision to move here is yet another strong endorsement of Ireland’s position as a leading location for the life sciences sector,” said Mr O’Leary.