Pfizer Announces $350 Million Investment to Upgrade Irish Manufacturing Sites and Create 300 Jobs

Compiled by Hemingway

On November 2, Pfizer announced to the public that it would invest $350 million to upgrade its three manufacturing facilities in Ireland: Grange Castle in Dublin, Newbridge in Kildare, and Ringaskiddy in County Cork. The investment is expected to create approximately 300 jobs over the next two to three years.

Although COVID-19 is currently raging worldwide, it has not dampened the enthusiasm for overseas investment of this century-old pharmaceutical company headquartered in New York.

According to reports, the investment is primarily intended to expand production capacity and upgrade laboratory conditions, as well as to retrofit manufacturing lines and equipment with new technologies that will enable Pfizer to support the next wave of medical innovation. The three facilities in Ireland are mainly engaged in the production of pharmaceuticals and vaccines, covering therapeutic areas such as arthritis, inflammation, cancer, infectious diseases, hemophilia, pain, and stroke.

Ringaskiddy, located in County Cork, is Pfizer’s first subsidiary plant in Ireland. The current retrofitting project involves establishing a new drug R&D department to produce candidate drugs for clinical trials. This transformation represents a significant development, as it expands Pfizer’s role in Ireland from the manufacturing of approved drugs to supporting the early stages of new drug development.

Pfizer is currently drawing significant attention for its joint development of a COVID-19 vaccine with its German partner, BioNTech. The mRNA candidate vaccine, BNT162b2, is one of the four projects that have advanced to Phase III efficacy trials in the United States. [Related Reading:COVID-19 Vaccine Development Upgraded Again! Pfizer, AZ, Johnson & Johnson, and Five Other Pharmaceutical Companies Shortlisted for the "Warp Speed" Program] Preliminary efficacy data are expected to be completed as early as October, but have not yet been obtained. However, in accordance with FDA requirements, safety data two months after the last vaccine injection will continue to be collected from half of the trial participants. Therefore, based on Pfizer's currently released trial registration and dosing schedule, it is estimated that interim efficacy analysis results will be available by the third week of November.

This July, Pfizer secured an order worth up to $1.95 billion from the U.S. government [Related Reading:$1.95 Billion! Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Secures Major Order from U.S. Government], with the aim of providing 100 million doses of the vaccine after obtaining Emergency Use Authorization, and subsequently supplying an additional 500 million doses. In Europe, the BNT162b2 injection is undergoing rolling review by the European Medicines Agency, and Pfizer and BioNTech have reached an agreement to supply 200 million doses of the vaccine.

To meet potential capacity planning, Pfizer has designated three U.S. factories and one Belgian factory as production bases for its COVID-19 vaccine.

Currently, Grange Castle in Dublin is assisting the Belgian plant with batch production quality testing to ensure that relevant manufacturing data are obtained prior to the release of safety data from clinical trials, thereby supporting the vaccination and use of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States.

Meanwhile, as Pfizer increases its investment in its Irish facility, it is also planning to shut down its sterile injectable production site in Perth, Australia, with a specific withdrawal timeline in place to completely cease operations there by 2023, while transferring the relevant functions to its Melbourne plant in Australia and other overseas facilities.

Reference Source: Pfizer to invest €300M, add 300 jobs to expand 3 Irish manufacturing sites