Over 100 positions will be filled at the manufacturing site in Sligo, Ireland.
Abbvie has plans to invest in human resources and has a forward-looking eye towards the oncology market. The company has announced that it will be investing €113.6 million ($139 million) into job creation and plans to expand its sterile manufacturing plant in Sligo, Ireland for the production of oncology therapies. As part of this expansion, Abbvie will create 100 jobs over the course of a three-year period. In taking on this endeavor, the company has benefited from assistance from the Irish government, through IDA Ireland.
The company is very active in Ireland, with two sites in Sligo and another in Cork. Abbvie’s commercial headquarters is Dublin-based, as is a separate international manufacturing and engineering services center. The company employs over 600 workers at a total of five manufacturing and commercial plants throughout the country.
This is not the first expansion for the Sligo site. In 2014, the company publically announced it was investing $115 million into the site, specifically for the production of oral Hepatitis C therapies.
Abbvie is responsible for Humira, the top-selling biologic, which earns the company over $16 billion in revenue worldwide. Though the patent expiration for the blockbuster has been pushed back to 2023 (after settling with Amgen over their biosimilar), it is clear that the company is actively seeking potential new channels to enter—in particular, oncology, has proven attractive.
CEO Richard Gonzalez commented on this segment during the company’s third-quarter earnings call: “Oncology will be a major growth driver for AbbVie over the next 10 years and beyond, further diversifying our business,” he noted.
Accordingly, the Irish government spoke out on the company’s continued investment in their country, expressing their appreciation. The Irish Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys commented on Abbvie’s presence noting: "This is a major investment which will bring 100 new quality jobs and it has the added benefit of being located in the North West Region, which builds on the government's commitment to regional development as part of the Action Plan for Jobs process. This expansion of its operation in Sligo is a great vote of confidence in what that region has to offer."