US pharma group AbbVie opens new €23m Dublin facility

The new facility spans two sites in Clonshaugh and serves as an international base for a range of supply chain, manufacturing and engineering services in support of AbbVie’s global operation, including its existing Irish facilities.

It will also service countries including Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

AbbVie is one of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies and already employs about 2,600 people in Ireland. It has a number of sites, with five manufacturing facilities in Cork, Dublin, Sligo and Mayo, as well as existing offices in Dublin. It manufactures botox at its plant in Co Mayo – the only global production site for the product.

The expanded Clonshaugh site, which celebrates its 30th anniversary next year, now employs close to 400 people.

AbbVie, which was formed in 2013 following a separation from Abbott, has invested more than €430m in Ireland in the past decade. AbbVie’s activities have included the acquisition of Allergan and its significant Irish operations in 2020. The expanded Clonshaugh site follows a €60m investment in Cork last year by the company.

Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, AbbVie’s executive vice president and chief operations officer, said that Ireland plays a “critical role” in supporting the company’s international operations.

“Our new AbbVie North Dublin facility will be a key node in AbbVie’s global operations network, serving as a European hub bringing together our Dublin-based supply chain, engineering, quality assurance and manufacturing teams for the first time,” she said.

IDA chief executive Michael Lohan said the new hub is a “continuing endorsement” of Ireland as a strategic location for biopharmaceutical investment.

AbbVie’s plant in Cork is a modern ‘bulk tablet’ facility that manufactures solid and capsule formations to deliver medicines in key therapeutic areas such as oncology and virology.

Its two facilities in Sligo include a high-containment plant that has dedicated capabilities for potent active pharmaceutical ingredient and drug product manufacturing. Those quality control labs recently underwent an €85m expansion. Its other Sligo plant is a global centre of excellence for design control and precision engineering in the production of drug delivery devices.

AbbVie’s global revenues last year were $58bn (€54bn). Its sales of botox for cosmetic use hit $2.6bn, while for neurological treatment, botox sales were $2.7bn. Its biggest selling product is Humira, a biologic use to treat a number of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis. Its sales last year were $21bn.