Industry & Business

Craigavon-based pharmaceutical organisation, Almac Group, secured new premises in Dundalk, County Louth, in response to increased client demand, it was announced on Thursday.

Almac will make a multimillion euro investment in the new facility at IDA Business Park. The expansion was supported by IDA Ireland. The facility will be used by Almac Pharma Services and Almac Clinical Services. The new premises increases the group’s European footprint by 32,000 square feet and provides continued presence within the European Union in the long term.

This investment comes just weeks after Almac confirmed plans to expand its operations at its global Headquarters in Northern Ireland with the construction of a new laboratory and additional office facilities. The company simultaneously announced investment at its North American site creating an additional 300 new, full time jobs. These investments will see an increase of Almac’s global headcount to over 5,000 by the end of 2017.

Almac Group CEO Alan Armstrong said: “This latest investment in Dundalk is a further example of Almac’s ambitious global expansion plans and will deliver up to an additional 100 new jobs within the first two years. This news comes in addition to our recent announcement of a £27m investment at our global Headquarter site in Craigavon, our US operations and our European facility in Athlone. All of this is evidence of Almac’s commitment to provide best-in-class products and services to our clients across the world and we would like to thank all those who have supported us to date.”

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor said: “This is a very exciting project for Dundalk and builds on the strong cluster of multinational companies who have very successfully located in that town in recent years and who have found it a great base from which to promote their sales into other EU Member States. Ireland’s expertise in the Pharma sector is unrivalled, with virtually all the major international players having operations here, thus generating synergies and opportunities for new companies investing with us. These additional 100 jobs to be provided are very welcome and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial engagement with Almac into the future”.

This investment strengthens Almac’s existing presence in the Republic of Ireland following the acquisition of Arran Chemical Company facility in Athlone in 2015. The facility has expanded the company’s biocatalysis services, which is part of Almac’s Sciences Business Unit.