MSD announces 100 jobs in latest major expansion of Carlow site

US drug giant MSD will add 100 new jobs to its Carlow workforce with a major new manufacturing plant at the site to expand production of modern biologics drugs for the treatment of cancers.

The company has already secured planning permission for the expansion of the site and said building work would begin immediately. It has not given details of the scale of the investment but it is understood to involve in the region of $450 million (€452 million).

This is the second major expansion at the Carlow site, which was opened in 2008 as the group’s first vaccines operation outside the United States. The company is completing work on the site’s second phase, which is due to go into production next year. This third phase is expected to come on stream in 2025.

The 100 highly skilled jobs will add to the 530 already on site, a number that is expected to climb towards 570 by the time the second manufacturing facility opens. MSD said recruitment will start now.

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MSD, which is known as Merck in north America, is one of the top six drug companies worldwide in terms of sales. Among its key products are cancer drug Keytruda, HPV vaccine Gardasil and pneumonia vaccine Pneumovax, all of which are already produced in Carlow or will be once the latest expansion comes on stream, strengthening the State’s position in key medicine areas.

The company said the new facility would be a first of its kind globally, focusing on the production of next generation oncology biologics. It said the decision to invest further in the Irish site was driven by the need to meet increasing global demand for the group’s medicines.

Welcoming the announcement, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar said MSD had played “an incredibly important role in helping Ireland become a world leader in life sciences”.

He noted the group already employs 2,800 people in Ireland where it operates at five sites — Carlow, Ballydine in Co Tipperary, Brinny in Co Cork, Dunboyne in Co Meath and Dublin.

MSD’s site lead in Carlow, Marie Martin, said the location had become integral to MSD’s global manufacturing operations over the past 14 years, “continuously punching above our weight to drive innovation to make a positive impact for people and patients”.

“This new facility will play a pivotal role in ensuring we can continue to sustain future supply to meet medical needs,” she said.

The group’s country head, Mairéad McCaul, said MSD’s continued investment in Ireland was due to continued access to highly skilled employees as well as collaborative partnerships with Government and third-level institutions.

“We are delighted to be able to announce this further expansion of MSD’s footprint in Ireland which comes on the back of a number of significant investments in our facilities across Ireland in recent years,” she added.

IDA Ireland executive director Mary Buckley said investment like this “strengthens our country’s position as a global destination for manufacturing excellence in vaccines and biopharmaceuticals” while also advancing the IDA’s focus on regional development.