AbbVie Invests €85M To Expand Ireland Manufacturing Facility

AbbVie announced the launch of its newly expanded manufacturing facility in Sligo, Ireland. The company said it invested €85 million to bolster its manufacturing capacity in the site, which supplies and commercializes its pipeline products in oncology, liver disease, and women’s health. The expansion will support the delivery of AbbVie’s existing portfolio, as well as provide the capacity to support potential new therapies.

Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, Senior Vice President of Operations at AbbVie, said that the new expansion continues the company’s commitment to Sligo and is aligned with the company’s biopharmaceutical manufacturing strategy. “Our presence here in Sligo dates back to 1974, and our success in Ireland is a credit to our dedicated staff and management. This expansion builds capacity for existing products and for potential therapies in our pipeline, such as our investigational, all-oral, interferon-free regimen for the treatment of adult patients with chronic genotype 1 (GT1) hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection,” said Saleki-Gerhardt. The company plans to continue using this expanded facility to provide treatments for the 160 million people globally that are chronically infected with hep C and to meet other unmet medical needs.

The new facility is one among AbbVie’s several plants in Ireland which include sites in Cork and Dublin. AbbVie has more than 400 personnel in Ireland and has won recognition as one of Ireland's Best Workplaces 2014 by the Great Place to Work Institute.

“AbbVie has had a long and deep relationship with Ireland, and today's opening of their new €85 million extension to the Manorhamilton site furthers Ireland's reputation as a leading location for investment for the life sciences sector. The Government's Action Plan for Jobs prioritizes measures to support fast-growing sectors like this so we can increase job creation and ensure economic recovery,” said An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Prime Minister of Ireland.

The company has 12 manufacturing sites across the U.S., Europe, and Puerto Rico. Last February the company announced a US$320 million investment to establish manufacturing operations in Singapore for small molecule and biologics active drug substance manufacturing, its first manufacturing presence in Asia.