Omens good for East Cork with sale and site interest

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.

If confirmed in coming months, the east Cork site could see a biotech plant built at a cost of several hundred million euro providing hundreds of jobs.

One source says the likely or targeted company is involved in manufacture of what’s called biosimilars, biotechnology drugs which are analogous to generic drugs.