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Biopharma

Why Ireland for pharma investment

  • Be part of an established ecosystem for pharmaceutical and biopharma activity, combining technology, talent and research

  • We offer regulatory stability, sub-supply capability, a multicultural workforce and collaboration opportunities with industry partners

Source the skills you need to make your investment in Ireland a success

Connect with us

Source the skills you need to make your investment in Ireland a success

Connect with us
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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

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

See similar companies in Ireland

Baxter
Merck
Bristol Myers Squibb
Regeneron
West
Sanofi
WuXi Biologics
Janssen
GE Healthcare
Lilly
Takeda
Johnson
MSD
Pfizer
Novartis
Zoetis
Gilead
Abbvie

Success Stories: Hear from leaders calling Ireland home

A proven path

See all Success Stories
Cadence
TikTok
Regeneron
Diligent
Qualcomm
AbbVie
Cork facility designated as European R&D Centre of Excellence

Cork facility designated as European R&D Centre of Excellence

The timing and scale of this Cadence investment is a real boost to Cork’s growing reputation as a specialised R&D hub. Due to our proximity to the University College Cork and Munster Technological University as well as to Ireland’s largest ICT research centre, The Tyndall Institute, the region provides an amazing engineering and computer science talent pool to draw from.

TikTok’s Rapid Rise in Ireland

TikTok’s Rapid Rise in Ireland

Its strong pool of skilled and diverse talent, booming digital and technology sector, and rich heritage of arts and culture, make it such an attractive base for a platform that prides itself on being an inclusive home for creative expression

Biologics leader scales rapidly across two strategic sites in Ireland

Biologics leader scales rapidly across two strategic sites in Ireland

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.

Educated workforce enables rapid ramp-up for software company

Educated workforce enables rapid ramp-up for software company

In other jurisdictions that we looked at, they literally wanted you to land and sign the deal. Whereas the IDA were very powerful in thinking about the next wave of growth beyond the first 200 people, and what type of skills we might look for then. It genuinely does feel like a partnership rather than a one-and-done, and the after-sales experience is excellent too.

Ireland is a strategic IT and engineering hub for chip giant

Ireland is a strategic IT and engineering hub for chip giant

Ireland is one of Qualcomm’s fastest growing R&D Centres, and the availability of talent and motivated people… are making meaningful contributions in terms of our technology roadmap.

8 diverse sites across Ireland employing 2,500+ people

8 diverse sites across Ireland employing 2,500+ people

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.

Find your European home

Find your European home