IDA Ireland Welcomes Opening of Servier’s New €47m Manufacturing Facility

IDA Ireland today (20th November 2009) welcomed the official opening of Servier Ireland’s new €47 million manufacturing plant in Arklow, Co.Wicklow.

The new 4,500 sq-meter facility marks the final stage in a €124 million investment process, which commenced in 1989, and has seen the size of Servier’s Arklow site double in the last 3 years with the creation of 100 new jobs.

The new plant represents a significant investment by Servier and serves to further position Ireland as a primary location for pioneering research and development. The facility will act as a strategic centre for the company in its R&D pipeline activities, ensuring that Ireland remains at the forefront of pharmaceutical innovation. The expansion fits with the Government's strategic priorities for building Ireland's R&D capability to lay the foundations for future high value employment.

Commenting on the opening, Barry O’Leary CEO of IDA Ireland, said: “The ongoing Government and IDA Ireland strategy has pointed towards the development of a knowledge-based economy as being key to the Ireland’s future growth and competitiveness. This investment is testament to the operational excellence, infrastructure and highly skilled workforce which has evolved. It also sends out a clear signal to multinational corporations worldwide that Ireland remains at the cutting-edge of research and development and a highly attractive location for investment.”  

Servier is France’s leading independent pharmaceutical company and has more than 20,000 employees, including nearly 3,000 in Research and Development in over 140 countries.


For further information, please contact:

Gillian Lawless, Press Officer, IDA Ireland Tel: 01-6034190 or email gillian.lawless@ida.ie

Julie O’Donnell at First Medical Communications on 01-614-5102 /087-1214-913 or email jodonnell@firstmedical.ie or;

Andrew Shaw at First Medical Communications on 01-6145102/087-7525-445 or email ashaw@firstmedical.ie


About Servier:

Founded in 1954 in Orleans, France, Les Laboratoires Servier has developed in stature from a family-owned, provincial pharmacy employing nine people to a multi-national operation with over 20,000 employees worldwide, including nearly 3,000 in R&D. It has annual sales of 3.7 billion euro. Despite its significant growth in recent years, the Company is still privately owned and is passionately and permanently committed to remaining independent.
Currently established in 140 countries, it has achieved consistently high growth especially throughout the last decade. The reason for this success is three-fold: firstly, one of the world's highest ratios of investment in research and development; secondly, an enviable reputation for product innovation; thirdly, the motivation, commitment and professionalism of the Company’s personnel are second to none.
Servier regularly invests more than 25% of its annual turnover into research and development. From a product portfolio focused on Cardiovascular, Diabetes and Osteoporosis, Servier plans to not only have some innovative new products in these therapeutic fields, but by 2014 plans to promote new and existing products for Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, prevention of cardiovascular events, depression and mild cognitive impairment.