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A Global Pharma Leader

Ireland’s life sciences sector has a global reputation for operational and innovational excellence. Leading industry names including Novartis, AbbVie, Janssen, Pfizer, Sanofi, Lilly, AstraZeneca, MSD, Bristol Myers Squibb and Takeda have significant operations here.

90+ pharmaceutical companies operate in Ireland
45,000 people employed in IDA client companies

An Exporting Powerhouse

Ireland is the world’s third largest exporter of pharmaceuticals, according to the UN International Trade Statistics database. The sector continues to evolve, expanding its capabilities to include innovation, digitalisation and next-generation technologies.

€116+ billion annual exports
Third largest exporter of pharmaceuticals globally

Opportunities to Collaborate

Multinationals operating in Ireland have many opportunities to collaborate with domestic companies, a network of life sciences sub-supply providers and multiple industry-focused research centres spanning a variety of technologies.

Facilitated sharing of best practice between companies
Active industry-academic partnership in technology, materials, manufacturing and more

Strong Compliance Record

Ireland has an exemplary compliance record with regulatory agencies like the FDA and EMA, who collaborate and work closely with our Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) to achieve trouble-free compliance.

50 FDA-approved pharma and biopharma plants
Fair oversight of regulated companies and a culture of excellence in compliance

World-Class Talent

Ireland’s industry can avail of skilled talent in existing pharma sites, experienced in quality assurance, quality control, product development, science and engineering. There’s also unrestricted access to the EU labour pool of over 240 million people.

Strong links with universities provide local talent matched to industry needs
Fast-track support for employment permits for skilled international labour

Pharmaceutical manufacturing in Ireland continues to perform very well contributing strongly to exports and economic growth and provides excellent career opportunities.

Dr Paul Duffy
Vice-President, Pfizer Global Supply

See What Sets Ireland Apart

WuXi Biologics’ biopharma manufacturing site in Dundalk
Success Story

We are committed to Ireland and will work with all local partners to build this state-of-art next generation biomanufacturing facility as a showcase to the global biotech community

Dr Chris Chen
CEO, WuXi Biologics
Read more about WuXi Biologics
MeiraGTx’s industry-leading gene therapy manufacturing facility in Shannon
Success Story

MeiraGTx’s Shannon facility is unique, not only in Ireland but globally, as it streamlines gene therapy development, testing and manufacturing capabilities together in-house. This significantly reduces the time to patients for advanced therapeutic products, with months or potentially years saved.” -

Alexandria Forbes
President and CEO of MeiraGTx
Read more about MeiraGTx
Almost half of Novartis associates hold master’s degrees while 17% hold a PhD
Success Story

The NGSC in Dublin is Novartis’s leading digital science centre globally. This is due to the fact that there is such a large amount of digital talent and a significant tech ecosystem in Ireland... We have an innovative team of data scientists and data managers who are harnessing the power of digital to revolutionise the way that we manage disease and ultimately get our medicines to patients faster.

Ciara O’Connell
Head of Novartis Global Service Centre
Read more about Novartis
Limerick site produces a number of Regeneron’s portfolio of medicines
Success Story

In order to make space in our New York facilities to accommodate our COVID-19 efforts, we needed to ramp-up capacity here in Limerick. Despite ramping up commercial production sooner than planned, my team hasn’t missed a beat. You can only perform like this if you have good people, and Ireland has lots of good people, so we are excited to be hiring 400 more.

Dan Van Plew
Executive Vice President & General Manager of IOPS, Regeneron
Read more about Regeneron
AbbVie continues to invest in its eight Irish sites spanning the country
Success Story

Ireland plays a critical role in supporting AbbVie's international operations. Our new AbbVie North Dublin (AND) 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.

Azita Saleki-Gerhardt
AbbVie EVP, Chief Operations Officer
Read more about AbbVie
Pioneering Asian company locates first overseas factory in Ireland
Gene therapy startup chooses Ireland for commercial-scale manufacturing
Pharma giant’s 60-year history of investing in Ireland
Biologics leader scales rapidly across two strategic sites in Ireland
8 diverse sites across Ireland employing 2,500+ people