Lilly plans to invest €400 million in new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Limerick, Ireland
Lilly has announced plans to invest over €400 million in a brand-new manufacturing facility in Limerick, Ireland, subject to planning approval. This marks Lilly’s fifth manufacturing plant in Europe.
The new facility will expand Lilly’s manufacturing network for biologic active ingredients, further strengthen our global supply chains, and support increased demand for existing Lilly products. It will play a key role in bringing Lilly’s robust clinical pipeline, including its promising Alzheimer’s portfolio, to patients around the world.
Senior vice president and president, Lilly Manufacturing Operations Edgardo Hernandez said: “Over the past 40 years, we have continued to invest in Ireland in part because of supportive government policies that value life science innovation. This new Lilly campus in Limerick will allow us to expand our capacity to make innovative new medicines that can help treat some of the world’s most serious illnesses.”
Ireland is home to a highly-skilled and reliable workforce and has established itself as a centre of excellence in life sciences and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The close links that have been fostered between the life sciences industry, communities, and universities with strong science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs in Limerick and across the country, make it the ideal location for Lilly’s new facility.
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade & Employment Leo Varadkar said: “This is fantastic news for Limerick and indeed the entire region. The Mid-West has become a real hub for leading biopharma companies such as Lilly and I’m really pleased that the company has chosen Limerick for its new manufacturing centre, investing over €400m and creating 300 new, permanent jobs and a further 500 jobs during construction. Lilly produces crucial healthcare products which are making a huge difference to the lives of patients around the world fighting some of the world’s most serious illnesses. This new manufacturing centre is a significant expansion of that work and I wish the entire team the very best with the project.”
Lilly has been operating in Ireland since 1978 and currently has over 2,300 employees at a manufacturing campus at Kinsale which uses complex chemical synthesis and biotechnology manufacturing processes to make active ingredients for Lilly medicines, a global business services centre at Little Island in County Cork provides value-adding solutions across finance, human resources, supply chain, medical information, and clinical trial capabilities, and a commercial team dispersed across the country.
CEO of IDA Ireland, Martin Shanahan said: “An investment of this scale by Lilly is very welcome news for the Mid-West Region and indeed Ireland, where the global healthcare brand has had a presence since 1978. Lilly employs more than 2300 people in Cork and the decision to significantly expand its footprint into the Mid-West region with the proposed construction of a new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility on a greenfield site in Limerick demonstrates the confidence Lilly has in Ireland and the region’s strong talent pool. The regional economy will also substantially benefit from the approximately 500 jobs in the construction of this proposed facility. I wish to assure Lilly of IDA Ireland’s continued support.”
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