Northern Ireland biopharma group sets up Dundalk base

Almac Group, a Northern Ireland-based contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing company, is making a multimillion euro investment in a new Dundalk premises as it seeks to maintain access to the EU market in the wake of Brexit.

The new plant will deliver 100 new jobs within the first two years, according to a statement on the company's website. The group has about 3,000 employees at its headquarters in Craigavon, Co Armagh.

"Almac's decision to expand into Dundalk provides the company with certainty of access to the European Union in the long term. This certainty of access is an increasingly important selling point for Ireland as we look to win business," said Martin Shanahan, chief executive of IDA Ireland, in a joint statement.

The move comes in addition to Armac's recent announcement of a £27 million (€31.8m) investment at its global headquarters in Craigavon, its US operations and European facility in Athlone, which stems from its acquisition of the Arran Chemical Company in 2015.