GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is to invest a further $19 million (€15.5 million) in its research facility in Cork.

The world's second-largest life sciences company will use the money to build a new lab to compliment its existing R&D facilities in Currabinny, Carrigaline, Co Cork. The move, which has been approved for IDA Ireland grant aid, brings the firm's total investment in the facility to €34 million this year.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney said GSK's decision to continue investing in the Cork facility was a sign of the Republic's rising status as a research location.

"Winning such strategic investments in so short a period of time from a global leader such as GSK is an outstanding endorsement," she said.

The new facility will create jobs for 10 highly skilled scientists. They will research "nanomilling", an emerging technique that produces drug particles only billionths of a metre across. Such particles have been shown to improve the absorption of medicines by patients.

Mr Finbar Whyte, the managing director of GSK's Cork facility, said the firm's decision to invest in the new facility was based on the existing R&D team's proven track record and the support of the Irish Government.

The British pharmaceuticals giant employs more than 1,400 people in Ireland, including 400 in Cork.

GSK's other research includes investigating drug compounds and reformulating HIV products.

GSK's worldwide vice-president of genetics, Mr Allen Roses, parked a minor uproar last week when he said that most drugs did not work for most people.

A GSK spokesperson later explained that people with different genetic make-ups did not always respond to medicines in the same way.