Astellas Building New Pharma Plant in Ireland

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma Incorporated (Tokyo, Japan) has received the green light to proceed with a 330 million-euro (US$361 million) expansion of its manufacturing operations in southern Ireland.

The company intends to build a new aseptic fill and finish plant in Tralee, County Kerry, at the Industrial Development Authority's (IDA) greenfield site in Kerry Technology Park. The planned three-story building will have a total floor area of 17,000 square meters and a building footprint of approximately 7,300 square meters. Construction will commence in 2024 with the site expected to be operational by 2028. Astellas said the new plant will "reinforce stable production for global supply and accelerate the development and commercialization of innovative antibody drugs and other new products." The company operates in more than 70 countries and has established operations in Ireland, employing more than 400 people at its manufacturing plants in Killorglin, Mulhuddart in Dublin, and a sales and marketing division in City West.

Ireland's Minister for Education Norma Foley commented: "I welcome confirmation that Kerry County Council has granted planning permission to Astellas Pharma for a new state-of-the-art facility at Kerry Technology Park, Tralee. This 330 million-euro (US$361 million) facility will bring with it highly specialized engineering, science and technology employment to Tralee and the southwest region. Astellas is already a significant and important employer in Kerry, and this new development will enhance even more the employment potential in the county."

From the outset the new facility will set out to cut water use by about half, reduce operational energy intensity by more than one-third and produce zero waste to landfill . It will also boast onsite renewable technology including solar PV panels and a biomass boiler. The project will create more than 600 jobs during construction but no number is available yet on how many full-time staff the plant will employ on completion.

In related Irish pharma news, Dublin-based Alkermes plc (Dublin, Ireland) has agreed to sell its manufacturing facility in Athlone, in the center of Ireland, to Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) (Bagsværd, Denmark) for a one-time cash payment of $92.5 million. More than 400 staff will transfer to Novo Nordisk on completion of the deal in mid-2024. "The acquisition of the Athlone facility represents an expansion of Novo Nordisk's global manufacturing setup and will provide Novo Nordisk with additional development and manufacturing capacity for current and future oral products," said Thilde G. Hummel Bøgebjerg, senior vice president, Product Supply Emerging Technologies, Novo Nordisk. "With this acquisition, we are excited to soon welcome approximately 400 highly skilled colleagues currently employed by Alkermes with valuable capabilities within oral drug development and manufacturing who will play a key role in serving even more patients with oral products."

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