Ireland is a home for 24 of the world’s top 25 b
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Roughly 20 years ago, Ireland had about 50 biopharma companies dotted throughout the country. Recent numbers put that figure at more than 300 companies. New life sciences players are regularly moving in while those that have been here long-term have set down roots for future growth. It’s no surprise, then, that we see regular announcements on Siliconrepublic.com showing that biotech and pharma companies are one of the most active in recruitment.
Out of the world’s 25 largest (by market capitalisation) independent, public biotech and pharma companies, only one – Celgene – has decided to forgo an office on these shores. Celgene UK and Ireland was established as an affiliate office in London in 2006.
And so we are left with the two dozen others, profiled below, starting with the largest first.
Johnson & Johnson
Familiar to millions as a household brand, Johnson & Johnson is the largest biotech in the world, employing more than 125,000 people across 60 countries. The Johnson & Johnson family of companies has been operating in Ireland for 80 years, with almost 3,000 employees across a network of locations including Johnson & Johnson Vision Care in Limerick, DePuy Synthes in Co Cork, and multiple Janssen operations in Cork and Dublin.
Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche started out as a provider of vitamins and was the first company in the world to mass-produce synthetic vitamin C. These days, it is a multinational pharma and diagnostics healthcare powerhouse with a commercial operation in Citywest, Dublin and a manufacturing site in Clarecastle, Co Clare. The latter is a manufacturing centre of excellence for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, which are used to develop medicines at other Roche facilities around the world.
Pfizer
Pfizer has seven locations across four counties in Ireland, employing more than 3,300 people in all. Pfizer was one of the first pharmaceutical companies to locate in Ireland when it set up in 1969, and the work carried out here includes R&D, manufacturing, shared services, treasury and commercial operations. The company has invested more than $7bn in its Irish operations in its almost 50 years here, including a $30m lab in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork that opened in 2014.
Novartis
Even before Pfizer, there was Novartis, which arrived in Ireland in the 1950s. Also headquartered in Basel, Novartis employs about 1,500 people in Ireland. The Dublin team provides scientific and commercial services, IT, HR operations and procurement. In Cork, two Ringaskiddy manufacturing sites produce active pharmaceutical ingredients for a range of oncology, respiratory, cardiovascular, dermatology, central nervous system and transplantation medicines. The multinational’s Irish footprint also includes Alcon’s facility in Cork, as Novartis acquired the eye care company in 2012.
MSD
MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) also has a long legacy in Ireland that stretches back over the last 50 years and, in that time, the company has invested more than $2.5bn in expanding and developing its facilities here. Over the half-century, MSD has developed treatment methods in the areas of diabetes, heart disease, immunology, oncology, infectious diseases, women’s health and anaesthesia. MSD’s Irish sites – in Dublin, Carlow, Cork and Tipperary – are involved in the production of more than 60pc of the company’s global top 20 products.
For the remaining 19 companies, go to:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/biote...es-ireland