300 jobs to be created as US pharma giant Eli Lilly announces €400 million investment in new Limerick hub.
Eli Lilly plans to invest €400 million in a new manufacturing plant in Limerick, and more than 300 new jobs are expected to be created as a result of the proposed project, which will employ highly skilled workers such as engineers, scientists, and operations personnel. A further 500 individuals will be hired on a temporary basis to help build the facility. The plant will be utilized to generate biologic substances for use in the company’s various medicines.
The company is in the planning stages for an IDA Ireland facility it is acquiring in Raheen Business Park. It plans to begin building later this year, with a planned opening date of late 2025/early 2026. Edgardo Hernandez, Lilly’s head of manufacturing, stated that the company would begin hiring immediately.
Eli Lilly already has a large presence in Ireland, with a manufacturing factory in Kinsale, Co Cork, and a business center in Little Island, also in Cork, where it has been operating for 40 years. More than 2,300 people are employed at these locations.
The company stated that it chose Ireland and Limerick for the investment because of the highly qualified and dependable workforce that has emerged in the life sciences and biopharmaceutical manufacturing fields.
According to Micheál Coughlan, Managing Partner InterSearch Ireland “this is the first major jobs announcement in 2022 for the life sciences sector and will provide a welcome addition to the pharmaceutical cluster in the Midwest region”.