Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said today it will add 200 jobs by the end of 2017 at its Industrial Operations and Product Supply (IOPS) bioprocessing campus in Ireland, as part of an additional $350 million investment in the facility.
The expansion will create Ireland’s largest-scale bulk biologics production facility, with total site investment of $650 million, according to the company.
Regeneron created IOPS—its first such operation outside the U.S.—on the site of a former Dell computer facility in Raheen, County Limerick. Regeneron acquired the site, which had been vacant since 2009, then won planning approvals last year. When plans for IOPS were announced in December 2013, Regeneron envisioned basing 300 jobs and investing $300 million in the site.
Approximately 300 full-time employees are now based at the 400,000-square-foot facility, as are 200 contingent workers and 550 construction workers.
The Limerick site is now operational with the first production line on track to enter validation before year end 2015.
Regeneron said recruitment is under way to fill additional full-time, high-end specialist jobs in commercial manufacturing, process sciences, quality assurance/quality control and various support functions for scientists, chemists, and technicians.
The company has worked with the Department of Jobs and IDA Ireland on the development of its operations in Ireland.
“The decision to create 200 new full-time roles and invest an additional $350 million in Limerick was an easy one to make because of our hiring and trades experiences over the last two years,” Dan Van Plew, Regeneron svp and general manager of IOPS, said in a statement.
In addition to IOPS operations in Limerick, Regeneron also has a growing team in Dublin tasked with supporting its business in Europe. Regeneron said its total headcount in Ireland is expected to approach 550 by the end of 2017.
Regeneron’s announcement came as Ireland’s government launched its Action Plan for Jobs for the Mid West, designed to generate an additional 23,000 jobs in the region by 2020.