By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: December 2024

BD in Dublin, Limerick, Louth and Wexford in Ireland - GetReskilled

In this article, you’ll find…

Overview of BD Worldwide

  • Total Sales 2023: $19.4 billion
    • BD Medical segment revenue 2023: $9.5 billion
    • BD Life Sciences segment revenue 2023: $5.1 billion
    • BD Interventional segment revenue 2023: $4.7 billion
  • R&D Spend 2023: $1.24 billion
  • Global Number of Employees 2023: 75,000

Becton Dickinson & Company (BD) was founded in 1897 in New Jersey, US and was a pioneer in the production of hypodermic needles.

Today, it is the 8th biggest Medical Device company in the world (based on 2023 revenue), employing 75,000 people in over 50 countries.

The company operates in three distinct business segments – BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional.

BD in Ireland

BD has had a presence in Ireland since 1964. The company currently employs over 1300 people across 2 manufacturing sites (in Louth and Wexford) and 2 R&D facilities (in Dublin and Limerick).

“Since BD started production on Donore Road in 1964, thousands of local people have been employed and billions of syringes and medical devices have been produced”
– BD.com

Overall rating by their employees 2024 (source):

image of 3 and a half gold stars

BD in Dublin

  • Employees in Dublin: 35
  • Activities: R&D

In June 2023, the company announced the opening of a new R&D facility in Blackrock, Dublin which will employ 35 people. The site will focus on “commercialisation of BD’s first on-body injector device”.

BD in Limerick

  • Employees in Limerick: 350
  • Activities: R&D

BD Research Centre Ireland (RCI) was established in 2017 and supports all 3 of BD’s business segments. The company describes the purpose of the site as “to increase productivity and efficiency while reducing cost and time to market products”

In December 2021, the company announced a €70m investment to expand the site, which was expected to add 130 new jobs over the following 5 years.

BD in Louth

  • Employees in Louth: 235
  • Activities: Medical device manufacturing

The BD Drogheda site has been operational since 1964, manufacturing a range of products including components for pen needles, safety for pen needles and PosiFlush.

In 2021, the company announced a $70m investment in the site to increase production capabilities.

Most recently, in July 2024, the company announced plans to wind down operations and eventually close the site in 2026.

BD in Wexford

  • Employees in Wexford: 480
  • Activities: Medical device manufacturing

BD’s Enniscorthy manufacturing site was acquired from Clearstream in 2017. The plant was founded in 1996.

Historically, the site manufactured angioplasty devices for peripheral artery disease. Today the team design, develop and manufacture a range of minimally invasive medical devices associated with several different medical conditions.

In June 2023, the company announced a €30m investment to expand manufacturing at the Wexford site. It is expected that 85 new jobs will be created as a result.

embecta

  • Employees in Dublin: 350
  • Activities: Medical device manufacturing – pen needles

BD Medical’s manufacturing site in Dun Laoghaire opened in 1969 and initially manufactured a range of syringes. In 1996 the site began also manufacturing pen needles, an insulin injection system for the treatment of diabetes.

By 2007, the site had stopped syringe manufacture and now solely produces pen needles, operating 11 different pen needle lines. It is “the world’s largest pen needle manufacturing plant” and employs approximately 350 people.

In April 2022, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) spun off Embecta Corp (embecta) making it an independent company.

GetReskilled Graduates in BD

GetReskilled courses taken by alumni employed by BD:

Connect with BD

How to Get a Job With BD in Ireland

If you already have experience in the pharma or medical device manufacturing industries, you can head straight over to our dedicated pharma jobs board and see the current BD vacancies in Ireland.

If you have some science, quality, or engineering qualifications/work experience, check out our specialist conversion courses that bridge the gap between your current knowledge and the technical information required to work in this highly regulated industry:

For all other backgrounds (including sales, retail, hospitality, etc), check out our Conversion Course into Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. This course helps you take the transferable skills acquired in any other industry and combines them with essential technical knowledge and job-hunting skills, to make you an ideal candidate for entry-level pharma manufacturing jobs. (Note: NO science or engineering knowledge or experience is needed!)

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About the Author

Image with Claire Wilison from GetReskilled Team

Claire Wilson

Content Marketing and Career Coaching

Claire runs GetReskilled’s Advanced Career Coaching Programme – our specially devised job hunting course that helps our trainees take that final step into employment by leading them through the job hunting process. She is extremely enthusiastic about helping people reach their final goal of employment in their new career path.

Claire has a BSc (Hons) in Medical Biology from Edinburgh University and spent 7 years working in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.