Waterford’s Pharma Industry at a Glance
- Over 4,600 people are directly employed by Pharmaceutical and Medical Device companies in Waterford. Many more are employed indirectly.
- More than 10 companies have manufacturing sites.
BTW, if you are interested in a career in the Pharmaceutical or Medtech industries or are considering upskilling for a better job or a promotion, check out our range of pharmaceutical courses.
View Companies on a Google Map
Find all pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing facilities in Waterford using this interactive Google Map.
Some of these companies also have offices in County Waterford that support business operations, commercial activities, supply chain management, and more.
Top Pharmaceutical Companies in Waterford
- Activities: Pharma – Contract Manufacturing
- Employees in Waterford: 120
EirGen has a purpose-built high containment facility within its Waterford site where it produces high potency solid dose products.
The company offers development and manufacturing opportunities with new active substances, upgrading formulation, and generics.
In 2016, the company announced 200 new jobs as part of an expansion of the current site and the creation of a new development centre.
Check out this video for a look inside Eirgen’s Waterford plant and hear from the CEO…
- Activities: Pharma & BioPharma – Laboratory Services
- Employees in Waterford: 250
Eurofins provides laboratory services to the pharmaceutical industry, serving 18 of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies. The support services span both drug development and ongoing manufacturing.
The company has had a presence in the county since 2011 and 2016, it announced an expansion of the Waterford site.
- Activities: Pharma & Healthcare – Manufacturing
- Employees in Waterford: 800
GSK Healthcare’s Waterford site has been manufacturing consumer healthcare products for over 30 years. The site employs about 10% of Dungarvan’s population.
In 2017, GSK announced the opening of a purpose-built biomass energy facility at the site. The facility uses locally sourced wood chips to create carbon-neutral fuel. This was expected to reduce carbon emissions at the site by up to a third.
In 2018, GSK and Pfizer merged their consumer healthcare brands, forming Haleon.
The Haleon Waterford site currently produces over 6.5 billion Panadol tablets every year which are then exported to over 70 countries.
Sanofi
- Activities: Pharma & Healthcare – Manufacturing
- Employees in Waterford: 740
Sanofi is the 9th biggest Pharma company in the world (based on 2022 revenue).
The current Waterford site began initially as Genzyme in 2001. In 2011, Genzyme was bought by Sanofi and in 2016, the site changed its name to Sanofi Waterford.
Today, the plant operates 24 hours a day, 7 days per week producing a wide range of products including the insulin product, Lantus.
Over €200m has been invested in the Waterford plant over the last 5 years.
In March 2019, Sanofi was awarded “Overall Waterford Business of the Year” at the Waterford Business Awards.
The overall winner of Waterford Business of the Year is Sanofi #wba19 sponsored by @WaterfordCounci
— LEO Waterford (@LEOWaterford) March 9, 2019
- Activities: Medical Devices – Respiratory Products
- Employees in Waterford: 730
Teva’s Waterford site researches, develops, and manufactures respiratory devices.
In total, it produces approximately 60 million branded and generic inhalers every year, which are then exported to over 30 countries around the world.
Teva has had a presence in Waterford since 1985 and their facility is fully FDA regulated, allowing direct export of their products to the US market.
- Activities: Pharma – Packaging
- Employees in Waterford: 130
West manufacture “integrated containment and delivery systems for injectable medicines”.
In 2018, West expanded its Waterford site. This facility will be a centre of excellence for West’s elastomeric laminate sheeting used in insulin pen injectors, as well as manufacturing other high-value finishing components.
Check out this video of West management talking about this investment in the Waterford area…
Top Medical Device Companies in Waterford
- Activities: Medical Devices – Contact Lenses
- Employees in Waterford: 1650
Bausch + Lomb has had a manufacturing facility in Waterford since 1980. Today, the plant is the company’s biggest manufacturing site in the world, and the company is now the biggest private-sector employer in the county.
The Waterford plant supports research and development, as well as the manufacturing of contact lenses and surgical products. There is also a pharmaceutical manufacturing area within the site.
Between 2015 and 2017, the company invested $200m in the Waterford plant, leading to 300 new jobs.
And in 2018, Bausch + Lomb announced a further expansion to the site with the addition of multiple production lines (and approximately 100 new jobs) to support the manufacture of daily disposable contact lenses.
Bausch + Lomb won “Overall Waterford Business of the Year” and “Exporter of the Year” at the 2020 Waterford Business Awards.
Check out this video from IDA Ireland about Bausch + Lomb’s Waterford operations…
- Activities: Medical Devices – Advanced Respiratory & Injectable Devices
- Employees in Waterford: 150
Jabil’s Waterford plant manufactures respiratory and injectable devices for pharmaceutical customers. The site uses “state of the art injection moulding processes and integrated complex automated assembly lines within cleanroom manufacturing environments.”
Jabil has had a manufacturing site in Wicklow since 1980. It was in 2013, that the company announced its investment in Waterford.
- Activities: Medical Devices – Contract Manufacturing
- Employees in Waterford: 140
The Schivo site in Waterford comprises over 80,000 square feet of manufacturing space, two clean rooms, a number of application development labs and over 75 precision machining systems.
They specialise in the contract manufacturing of minimally invasive devices and life science systems.
Interested in a Pharma Manufacturing Career?
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Already working in the industry and want to upskill for a better job or a promotion?
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You Might Also Be Interested in:
- Search Ireland’s Largest Pharmaceutical Jobs Board
- Save Days OFF your Job Search with this List of 180 Pharmaceutical Companies in Ireland
- See 213 Pharma and Med Device Factories in Ireland listed by county in this table
- Top Pharmaceutical Companies in Cork
- Top Pharmaceutical Companies in Dublin
- Top Medical Device & Pharmaceutical Companies in Galway
- Top Pharmaceutical Companies in Limerick
If you know of a company or group we’ve missed from this page, or think your company should be displayed here, please contact us.
About the Author
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.
Interested, let me know in details.
Thanking you,
S .P.John
Hi Shaji,
What are you interested in? What do you want to know the details of?