Regeneron ($REGN), maker of the highly successful eye treatment Eylea, has put some numbers to its plans for a former Dell plant in Ireland that will become its first manufacturing facility outside of the U.S. The drugmaker says it will spend $300 million to refurbish the facility and to hire 300 people by the end of 2016 to staff it.
"Pending planning approval, Limerick will become our second industrial production site, expanding our manufacturing capacity into Europe and facilitating the delivery of a growing supply of medicines for patients worldwide," Regeneron Senior VP Daniel Van Plew said. He noted that Regeneron is one of the fastest-growing biopharmaceutical companies in the U.S.
Regeneron acknowledged earlier this year that it was negotiating with Dell to take over the 400,000-square-foot facility in Limerick. The facility was vacated when Dell moved production to Poland in 2009, cutting 1,900 jobs in the process. It says now that work will kick off on the project next year and will include manufacturing facilities and an analytical lab, assuming local officials approve permits for the operation. Officials in Ireland, who said they had worked to attract Regeneron to the country for 4 years, pointed out the project will add 600 construction jobs to the economy while it goes up. Regeneron is getting unspecified support for the facility through the Department of Jobs. The company is already in the midst of an $80 million plant expansion and office project in East Greenbush in Rensselaer, NY.
Regeneron's sight loss drug Eylea has had significant growth since its 2011 FDA approval, getting approvals in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere for a variety of conditions. Last month, the Tarrytown, NY-based company reported that sales for the first 9 months of the year were just over $1 billion, up from $562 million for the same period of 2012. Regeneron partner Bayer Healthcare markets Eylea outside the U.S., where the drug racked up sales of $288.3 million in the first three quarters. Bayer expects Eylea to deliver €1 billion-plus in annual sales.
- here's the announcement
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