[02.05.2008 first posted on silicon republic]
Bio-pharma giant Pfizer is to make a major €190m investment in a new biotech facility in Cork that will result in the creation of 100 new jobs, as well as a further 500 construction and service jobs.

In what has been an uneasy news week for multinationals in Ireland, with 250 jobs set to go at Dell and potential job cuts looming at Sun Microsystems, the investment by Pfizer represents the company’s first deployment of internal biopharmaceutical clinical production outside the US.
The company, which has been active in Cork since 1979, is aiming to use the new facility to spearhead its ambitions to become a global leader in the biotherapeutics space.
It is aiming to establish a top five global position in the next eight years where biologic products would account for over 20pc of revenues.
The new facility will become a centre of excellence for process development and production of small-scale quantities of Pfizer global, R&D products.
It will be located on a 30-acre site adjacent to Pfizer’s existing Cork facility and will be fully commissioned and completed by the end of 2009.
“This is a strategically important development for Pfizer as it is the first time it has placed its internal biopharmaceutical clinical production and process development activities outside of the US,” the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin TD, commented.
“Pfizer has made a tremendous contribution to Ireland’s life sciences industry since it established here in 1970 and this investment is a further demonstration of the company’s continuous commitment to Ireland. The decision to place such a sophisticated and technologically advanced operation here is a significant endorsement of Ireland’s wealth of talent and expertise.
“The success of Pfizer’s operations here has placed Ireland in the enviable position of winning this much sought after investment against strong competition internationally, particularly as it will be instrumental in making Pfizer a leader in the global biologics industry,” Minister Martin added.
The head of Pfizer global manufacturing, Nat Ricciardi, said that biotherapeutics is a fast-emerging area of the pharmaceutical area and that of the 14 major product deals made by Pfizer in 2007, six were biotherapeutic transactions.
“This new Cork facility is an important part of our biologics strategy and complements our establishment of a biotherapeutics and bioinnovation centre (BBC) division in late 2007,” Ricciardi explained.
“The BBC model is a federation of small biotech units which combines the best of both the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
“Our aim is to gain access to the best science inside and outside our walls, and the new Shanbally facility will ensure that we can produce the product for clinical trials, which could ultimately impact on the lives of millions of patients,” Ricciardi added.
By John Kennedy