West Pharmaceuticals, which specialises in packaging for the sector, is adding 330 jobs to its Dublin operations as it opens a new manufacturing facility at its Damastown plant.
The New York-listed business operates a contract services business from the Dublin site, making packaging and drug delivery systems for a wide range of medicines.
The new unit will specialise in high volume injectable therapies – including medicines for diabetes and weight loss, the company said.
The new jobs mark a 30 per cent expansion in its Irish workforce, which now numbers 1,400 across plants in Dublin and Waterford.
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West said the 165,000sq ft Dublin facility, first announced in November 2024, was designed to meet growing global demand for its clients products. Novo Nordisk is among the companies that work with West.
“This expansion increases our global capacity to support drug handling for high-volume injectable therapies, including next-generation GLP-1 treatments,” said Aileen Ruff-Patry, president of contract manufacturing. “This reinforces West’s role as a critical partner in helping to secure patient access to these essential medicines.”
Speaking at the opening, Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Jack Chambers said the new plant was a welcome development for the local community and for the national life sciences sector.
“The expansion here has created 330 highly-skilled jobs to meet the increasing global demand for diabetes and obesity treatments, and patient-focused drug delivery solutions,” he said.
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Michael Lohan, IDA Ireland’s chief executive, welcomed the “significant investment” by West.
The company was not prepared to put a figure on the size of this latest investment in its Irish operation. US companies in particular are coming under heavy political pressure to focus their investments on the domestic market under the Trump administration.
In its 2024 accounts, West noted: “The recent tariffs imposed by the United States on imports may pose a potential risk to our sales from Ireland to the US market, potentially affecting our revenue projections.”
Headquartered in Pennsylvania, West employs more than 10,000 people at 50 sites worldwide.
The company has had a presence in Dublin for more than 25 years. According to its most recent filed results, the two Irish operations delivered pretax profit of just under €79 million in 2024, the last year for which figures area available.
The company’s Waterford unit, which was finishing rubber bungs used with vaccines, benefited strongly from Covid-related demand.
The 2024 profit came on the back of just under €426 million in sales. The Irish businesses each paid a dividend of more than €60.7 million to their parent company during that year.
