By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: February 2024

View from the water looking across waterford ireland

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.
Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Companies in Limerick

We are continually updating this page and try hard to keep this information as accurate as possible. But if you know of a company we’ve missed or see data that needs correction, please contact us.

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.

Top Medical Device Companies in Waterford

Bausch + Lomb

  • 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…

Jabil (previously Nypro Healthcare)

  • 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.

Schivo Medical

  • 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.

Top Pharmaceutical Companies in Waterford

EirGen

  • 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…

Eurofins BioPharma

  • 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.

Haleon (previously GSK)

  • 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.

Check out this video for more information and a look inside the Waterford site…

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.

Teva Pharmaceuticals

  • 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.

West

  • 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…

Interested in a Pharma Manufacturing Career?

No previous industry experience or science or engineering background?
Start with our Conversion Course into Pharmaceutical Manufacturing to retrain for an entry-level job.

GMP Manufacturing experience? (e.g. pharmaceutical, med device, nutritional, beverage, food or dairy manufacturing)
Take our AWARD-WINNING Certificate in eBioPharmaChem to move into more senior roles.

Already working in the industry and want to upskill for a better job or a promotion?
View all 13 Online Pharmaceutical Courses

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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

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.