Spanish blood plasma specialist Grifols is opening a $100 million operations center in Dublin that will support its supply chain. The new operation will add dozens to Ireland's pharma sector even as Pfizer ($PFE) is doing the same by boosting its workforce at three plants in Ireland.
Grifols' 22,000-square-meter Bioscience Division global operations center is at the Grange Castle Business Park Dublin, the Ireland Development Authority (IDA) announced. The facility will warehouse and handle labeling, packaging and final conditioning of plasma, intermediate and finished products. It will also house regulatory and quality operations for plasma and plasma derivatives as well as have some R&D management operations and administrative and commercial and finance operations. The facility will employ 140 when it is fully operational in the first half of 2016.
The Grifols announcement last week came a day ahead of one from the Ireland Development Authority that Pfizer would add about 130 positions in the next year to three manufacturing operations. Those include a facility that also is in Grange Castle in Dublin, as well as at its Little Island and Ringaskiddy plants in Cork. The plant at Little Island, where Pfizer makes Lipitor and other products, had been slated for closure last year but Pfizer reversed that decision earlier this year as sales of Lipitor remained above expectations in global markets.
It has been a big month for expansion of pharma manufacturing projects in Ireland. A week ago, U.S. drugmaker Regeneron ($REGN) said it would more than double the investment it is making in a new plant it is putting up in Limerick. The drugmaker is boosting its investment to about $650 million from the initial $300 million it had planned to spend. When it is complete in 2017, the facility also will bring on board about 500 workers, instead of the 300 Regeneron at first said would be needed.
- here's the Grifols announcement
- see the Pfizer announcement