GLOBAL PHARMACEUTICAL company Warner Chilcott will create up to 200 jobs in Dundalk, Co Louth, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan said yesterday.
The Nasdaq-listed company is establishing its global headquarters in the Border town with the support of IDA Ireland.
The level of education in Ireland was a major factor in making the decision on where to locate, according to Roger Boissonneault, Warner Chilcott’s president and chief executive.
He said Ireland “should be proud of its education system”, and added that the company will be maintaining its established links with Queen’s University Belfast.
Warner Chilcott is the first pharmaceutical company to locate in Dundalk, though IDA regional manager Pat Doherty said “Ireland is currently home to 15 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world”.
Welcoming the decision Ms Coughlan said: “It is excellent news for the northeast region and Ireland as a whole.
“Dundalk is one of Ireland’s busiest economic corridors, between Dublin and Belfast, and today’s announcement will bring new high-quality employment opportunities to the region, adding further to the region’s portfolio of world-class foreign direct investment companies operating here which include Xerox, Heinz, Moffett, Diageo, ABB, National Pen and Satir,” she said.
Mr Boissonneault said: “We are excited to establish a new headquarters in Dundalk and are delighted with the support being provided by IDA Ireland. We anticipate that the new facility will play an integral role in the growth of our business.”
Warner Chilcott focuses on the gastroenterology, women’s healthcare, dermatology and urology segments of the US and western European pharmaceuticals markets.
The company is waiting for planning permission for its premises, which will be located adjacent to Xerox and less than one kilometre from the M1 motorway.
It will locate executive offices, manufacturing operations and service support there and hopes to start recruiting immediately and to have created the 200 positions in the coming five years.
Since being spun out of Warner-Lambert in 1996, Warner Chilcott has evolved through a series of acquisitions and divestitures from a small seller of undifferentiated products to a fully integrated pharmaceutical company with a broad portfolio of leading branded products.
The news was welcomed by Dundalk-based Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern who said, “these cutting-edge jobs underscore the great opportunities which Dundalk offers. We had bad news recently with the loss of jobs in the banking sector but this shows that Dundalk and the northeast can bounce back.”
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