Pfizer invests $200 million in its Grange Castle, Ireland, facility

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), the world’s leading pharmaceutical company, is to make a substantial investment of $200 million at its Grange Castle biotechnology manufacturing facility in Clondalkin, County Dublin, Ireland, it was revealed yesterday.

The investment will enable Pfizer to introduce two new processing suites to the site and expand current production and product testing capabilities. This investment has resulted in the generation of significant construction employment (up to 400 jobs) during peak construction periods.

Early this year, Pfizer shocked its UK staff and the whole of the country’s pharma sector when it announced that it plans to close its facility in Sandwich, which has been in existence since the 1950s, and putting 2,400 jobs at risk over the next two years (The Pharma Letter February 2). Pfizer has also announced it will restructure its R&D operation in an effort to save up to $2 billion, and there will be a significant impact to the state of Massachusetts, where the pharmaceutical giant has three facilities.