West Plans for for a New Pharmaceutical Component Manufacturing Plant in Ireland

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. plans to expand its global manufacturing operations to include a new site in Waterford, Ireland. The new facility will produce packaging components for insulin injector cartridges and other high-value packaging components, in order to meet growing demand from pharmaceutical and biotech customers. Once operational, this new site could bring approximately 150 new jobs to Waterford and is intended to grow to support additional jobs through future expansions.

“With diabetes emerging as one of the fastest growing diseases globally, our pharmaceutical customers are expanding their production lines for injectable insulin. To meet this growing demand, we are announcing an expansion today that will help us address this need and continue to serve this critical patient population,” said Donald E. Morel, Jr., West’s Chairman and CEO. “In the future, we intend for this site to be a center of excellence for advanced packaging components to meet the needs of our customer base for a range of sophisticated injectable therapies.”  

“Waterford, Ireland, is an ideal setting for this new plant, given its business-friendly environment and the growing health science industry in the area,” Morel added.  “On behalf of West’s Board of Directors, I would like to thank the many representatives of Waterford City, the Irish Government and the Irish Development Agency for their support.”

Construction is planned to begin in early 2015 on the 44-acre site at Knockhouse on Old Kilmeaden Road in Waterford, subject to the project obtaining requisite planning and zoning approvals, which the company believes will occur later this year. This site will be a center of excellence for West’s proprietary elastomeric sheeting, which is used to package insulin for use in pen injectors. Future plans include additional manufacturing space for West’s proprietary injectable component product lines, which are integral to many injectable and dosage forms. With these expansions, the plant eventually could accommodate between 250 to 300 jobs and involve an investment in the range of €100 million.

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD said: “I am delighted with this announcement of a new manufacturing facility in the South East by West Pharmaceutical Services which will create 100 construction jobs during its development and an initial 150 new jobs when operational. It is a massive boost for Waterford and the entire South East and I am happy that Government was able to assist through the work of the IDA. The Government is determined to secure economic recovery by incentivising job creation and further investment in the area. Today's announcement continues our strong track record on attracting employers in the medical devices sector and we will continue to prioritise Government support for sectors with real growth potential through our Action Plan for Jobs.”

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD said: “The South East has been a key focus of my Department and Agencies since shortly after I took office. We have put in place structures like the South East Forum to bring a greater focus to this region. In the past 2 years the number of site visits has been well over twice what it was before 2011, we have seen many substantial jobs announcements and employment in the region has increased by well over 10,000 in the past 2 years. Today’s announcement by West, a world leading supplier to the pharmaceutical industry, that it is establishing a new operation in Waterford with the creation of up to 300 jobs, is another great boost. I commend the IDA for their work on this, and look forward to further announcements for the South East in the coming months.”

Martin Shanahan, CEO at IDA Ireland said: “West Pharmaceutical Services is a leading manufacturer of pharmaceutical packaging and delivery systems, including medical devices. Ireland has succeeded in attracting over 250 medical device manufacturers employing over 25,000 people in locations across the country. The IDA and its local stakeholders have fought off stiff competition to have this plant located in Ireland. This project is a vote of confidence in the people of Waterford.”

West has had a presence in Ireland since 2005 with a manufacturing and development center in Dublin, which is the European headquarters for The Tech Group, a West subsidiary which specialises in providing device design, development and manufacturing services for pharmaceutical and med-tech customers. Employing over 230 people at its Mulhuddart, Dublin facility, it is also undergoing an expansion as a result of securing a number of significant customer programmes.