BioMarin had its first manufacturing site outside of the U.S. approved just last year. But the genetic disease specialist is already expanding the site in Ireland and adding dozens of new jobs.
The drugmaker will invest about $43 million in a filling line at the bulk biologics plant in Shanbally, County Cork, and is expected to bring on 51 employees as a result, according to an announcement from the Ireland Development Agency.
The new filling line will supplement its drug substance manufacturing and secondary packaging and labeling capabilities. It already has about 350 workers at the facility.
“The introduction of fill finish capacity at Shanbally provides for fully integrated manufacturing from bulk to drug product onsite,” BioMarin Executive VP Robert Baffi, Ph.D., said in a statement. “This expansion assures that an increasing amount of our commercial products will be manufactured at the site.”
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BioMarin bought the operation from Pfizer in 2011 to diversify its manufacturing risk. The site has already been expanded to include an expanded warehouse, utilities and new office space. Last year, it moved manufacturing of Vimizim, its drug for Morquio A syndrome, an enzyme deficiency that interferes with skeletal development and can trigger a host of other health problems.