Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it will expand its Limerick Industrial Operations and Product Supply (IOPS) bioprocessing campus with an additional 300 jobs and investment of $100 million, bringing the total expected employment at the site to 800 people and total investment to $750 million.
Since 2013, when Regeneron first announced plans to invest in operations in Ireland, the company said it has consistently exceeded job and investment projections for its Irish operations. In October 2015, Regeneron projected employment in Ireland would reach 500 by the end of 2017. As Regeneron’s Irish expansion continues with employment expected to rise to 800 by the end of 2018, recruitment is ongoing for high-end specialist positions in commercial manufacturing, process sciences, quality assurance/control/validation and various support functions.
Regeneron’s 400,000 square foot, state-of-the-art production facility in Limerick is reportedly the largest scale bulk biologics production facility in Ireland and one of the largest biologic production operations in the world. The additional $100 million investment will support the construction of a number of manufacturing suites to increase drug substance production capacity and enable the company to meet demand for its life-transforming medicines for patients with serious diseases.
"Gut feel is a large portion of any site selection. When we picked Limerick years ago, we simply felt good about the community, universities and people," said Dan Van Plew, executive vice president/general manager of Industrial Operations and Product Supply. "A few years and a lot of experience later, I can now confidently say I know Limerick is a place where you can build and thrive as a biotech. We are proud of what has happened here and the vast majority of this work has been completed by people who come from Munster. These folks built, validated and began production in a way I’d put up against any other team on the planet. We feel at home here and the way we have been welcomed has made our ongoing growth and investment in Limerick rewarding on the most personal levels.”