Dublin’s Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Industry at a Glance

• Over 9,000 people directly employed in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Manufacturing
• Home to manufacturing sites for four of the world’s top 15 pharmaceutical companies
• More than 35 companies have manufacturing sites

Dublin consistently ranks as the number one county for available Pharmaceutical and Medical Device jobs in Ireland. Click here to see the latest Pharmaceutical and Medical Device jobs in Dublin.

Read on to find out more…

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.

Pharma & Medical Device Job Announcements in Dublin

There has been much investment and a number of job announcements in Dublin recently. Some of the most significant include:

• APC announced 140 new jobs at its Cherrywood site with plans to develop and manufacture vaccines
• Pfizer are creating 75 jobs with $40m investment at its Grange Castle site
• The Japanese company Takeda is creating 100 new jobs by 2023 at its Dublin site

Top Medical Device Companies in Dublin

BD Medical

• Activities: Medical Devices – Pen Needles
• Employees in Dublin: 430

BD is the 7th biggest Medical Device company in the world (based on 2019 revenue). It operates in three distinct business segments – BD Medical, BD Diagnostics, and BD Biosciences.

In Ireland, BD Medical currently operates an R&D facility and three manufacturing sites, including its facility at Dun Laoghaire.

There has been a BD Medical site in Dun Laoghaire since 1969 – initially manufacturing 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.

Jabil

• Activities: Medical Devices – Manufacturing
• Employees in Dublin: 300

Jabil works with healthcare companies from around the world to design and manufacture medical products.

Previously Nypro Healthcare, Jabil has operated in Bray since 1980 and the site is now the company’s European Centre of Excellence. At this facility, they work on a range of activities such as proof of concept, prototyping, supporting clinical trials, and validation – leading to full manufacturing.

Take a closer look at Jabil in Ireland…

Siemens Healthineers

• Activities: Medical Devices – Medical Imaging
• Employees in Dublin: 450

Siemens is the biggest engineering company in Europe covering sectors including energy, industry, and healthcare. The healthcare division – Siemens Healthineers – focuses on equipment for medical imaging, clinical IT, and lab diagnostics.

Siemens Healthineers is the 8th biggest Medical Device company in the world (based on 2019 revenue).

Siemens has over 600 employees across Ireland including staff in headquarters and sales roles. Siemens Healthineers has a manufacturing plant for diagnostic equipment in Swords, Dublin that is described as a “state of the art manufacturing facility producing and supporting complex medical diagnostics analysers for a worldwide market.”

West

• Activities: Health Care and Medical Devices and Assemblies
• Employees in Dublin: 650

West Pharmaceutical Services design and produce “integrated containment and delivery systems for injectable medicines”. They work closely with biotechnology, medtech, and pharmaceutical companies to develop and manufacture these systems for new products.

West has had a site in Dublin since 2005. The Mulhaddart facility offers a “single-source solution” by performing design, development, and manufacturing activities. The facilities here were recently expanded to increase manufacturing capacity. 

Take a look inside West’s Contract Manufacturing Facility…

Find ALL of Dublin’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Factories on this Interactive Map.
(Best viewed on a Desktop or Tablet)

Top Pharmaceutical Companies in Dublin

Alexion

• Activities: Pharma – Manufacturing
• Employees in Dublin: 400

Alexion has operated a site in Blanchardstown, Dublin since 2013. This has previously housed the Global Supply Chain and Operations Headquarters, as well as a packaging and warehousing plant.

In 2015, the company announced a €450m investment to build a new large-scale biologics manufacturing facility on the site. This was the company’s first biologics manufacturing site outside of the US. At the time, this was the single biggest investment a pharmaceutical company had made in Ireland.

In 2020, Alexion’s College Park site in Dublin was named Pharma Industry Company of the Year.

Congratulations to Alexion College Park on winning Pharma Industry Company of the Year! #PharmaAwardsIRL @AlexionPharma pic.twitter.com/uP5f1hIq5H

— Pharma Industry Awards (@PharmaAwardsIRL) December 3, 2020

Bristol Myers Squibb

• Activities: BioPharma – Biologics Manufacturing
• Employees in Dublin: 650

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has had a presence in Ireland for the last 50 years. In Dublin, the company now operates a Biologics Manufacturing site (in Cruiserath) and an External Manufacturing Division.

Construction of the Cruiserath Biologics Manufacturing site began after a €720m investment in 2015. Operations started in 2018 and the site now employs 400 people. This is the company’s first biologics manufacturing facility outside of the US. The facility is highly flexible – it is initially manufacturing a single product at a time, moving to 3-5 campaigns per year.

The Cruiserath operation was certified as a “Great Place to Work” in 2017, as well as ranking 5th in the “Best Large Workplaces in Ireland 2018”.

Take a look inside Bristol Myers Squibb’s Dublin manufacturing site…

Leo Pharma

• Activities: BioPharma – Biologics Manufacturing
• Employees in Dublin: 650

Leo’s Dublin manufacturing site was established in 1959. The Finished Goods Manufacturing site manufactures dermatology products for global distribution. The factory operates 24 hours a day, 5 days per week (’24/5’) and produces approximately 72 million units per year. Products manufactured here include topical creams, gels, ointments, and gauze.

There are also commercial activities based in the Dublin site.

Pfizer

• Activities: BioPharma – Biologics Manufacturing
• Employees in Dublin: 1800

Pfizer is the largest pharmaceutical company in the world (based on 2019 revenue). It was also one of the first pharmaceutical companies to invest in Ireland, in 1969.

Pfizer has a range of commercial and business sites in Dublin, but it also has the Grange Castle manufacturing site.

Pfizer’s Grange Castle site is one of the company’s leading biotechnology manufacturing sites and represents the company’s single biggest investment in Ireland (€1.8bn). Opened in 2005, the facilities cover more than 1 million square feet.

Grange Castle is responsible for producing a wide range of biologics and vaccines (including finished vaccine products in pre-filled syringes). The site also manufactures products for clinical trials.

The Quality Control laboratories in Grange Castle provide support to other Pfizer manufacturing sites around the world. There are significant research and development activities in laboratories here as well.

Great news today of 75 new jobs from @pfizer 💉🏥

I recently toured the Pfizer plant in Grange Castle with the Tánaiste @LeoVaradkar, Minister @SimonHarrisTD and Cllr Shirley O’Hara and we saw first hand the role they are playing in the fight against the #Covid19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/TOrdhD9HvT

— Emer Higgins TD (@EmerHigginsTD) May 19, 2021

SK Biotek

• Activities: Pharma – API Manufacturing
• Employees in Dublin: 400

In January 2018, SK Biotek bought the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient manufacturing facility site in Swords formally owned by BMS. In doing so, it became the first South Korean pharmaceutical company to invest in Ireland. The site’s 360 staff become SK Biotek employees.

The company has plans to develop a stand-alone Contract Development Manufacturing Organisation. It will also add to the manufacturing capabilities of the site, and develop R&D activities.

Take a look inside SK Biotek’s Swords manufacturing facility…

Find ALL of Dublin’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Factories on this Interactive Map.
(Best viewed on a Desktop or Tablet)