AstraZeneca announces €65m investment at Alexion’s Irish units

AstraZeneca has announced further investment at its Irish plants in Blanchardstown and Athlone.

The company’s rare disease group, Alexion, is building a new manufacturing science and technology lab in Blanchardstown to allow the unit scale up its biologics drug manufacturing in Ireland. It is also installing new manufacturing equipment and temperature controlled warehousing at both sites to boost production here.

The €65 million investment follows a €341 million investment announced last year for the Blanchardstown facility on a new manufacturing unit on the site.

Alexion chief executive Marc Dunoyer said Ireland was “an increasingly critical global hub for AstraZeneca operations” and the new investments would allow “for new capabilities for AstraZeneca in Ireland”.

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IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan said Ireland’s ambition was to be at the forefront of driving the future of biopharma.

“Today’s announcement to continue to increase Alexion capabilities in Ireland further demonstrates the company’s commitment to the rich life-science ecosystem Ireland has to offer,” he said.