The work has been ongoing for two years and has seen Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, invest more than €300m ($329m) to increase capacity at the facility by 62,000-square-feet.
The facility is located in Ringaskiddy, Cork, where Janssen holds a 40-hectare site, and the expansion will create 200 full time positions, adding to the approximately 500 people already employed at the site.
Through the expansion, Janssen added a new manufacturing building; expansion of its existing warehouse building, laboratory and administration buildings; modification of other aspects of the site, including car parking and utilities; and expansion of the on-site waste water treatment plant.
The site currently manufactures five commercial products, all of which are monoclonal antibodies: Simponi (golimumab), Stelara (ustekinumab), Sylvant (siltuximab), Darzalex (daratumumab), and Tremfya (guselkumab).
Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland, said, “J&J is one of the largest life sciences and R&D investors in Ireland and is part of a thriving biopharma sector in Cork. With a significant investment in expanding Janssen’s manufacturing capacity here in Ringaskiddy, the positive economic spin-off for the South-West region is considerable.”
In addition, Simon Coveney, An Tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs & trade for the Irish government, who was in attendance at the opening ceremony, highlighted the importance of the pharmaceutical and medical products, stating that these constituted 33% of the country’s exports.
During an interview earlier this year, Shay Power, VP of life sciences at IDA Ireland, told BioPharma-Reporter that over the last seven years, the country had investments of over €1bn, helped by the favorable tax rates offered.
