GE is setting up a new site, to be known as “GE BioPark Cork,” as it looks to boost its off-the-shelf biomanufacturing facilities in Ireland.
The so-called BioPark is set to house around 500 new staffers when fully up and running, with most of these (400) coming from biotechs and pharmas and the rest employed by GE.
When the paperwork is out of the way, GE said it expects to start building around halfway through next year.
The GE BioPark will also include its four fully equipped KUBio factories, owned by biopharma companies to help produce their meds, with GE “running centralised shared utilities and site services,” according to the company’s statement.
Ireland’s minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, said in the statement: “The biopharma industry makes a huge contribution to the Irish economy in terms of jobs and manufacturing exports, and is one of the fastest growing sectors. I am delighted that GE is making a significant investment in Cork. This is a further testament to our talented workforce. … I welcome GE's commitment to Ireland and wish them every success in the future.”
Kieran Murphy, CEO of GE Healthcare Life Sciences, added: “Pharma companies worldwide are racing to respond to patient needs with new life-changing biological medicines and GE is investing in technology and service solutions, as well as industry skills and expertise, to enable them to make and get their products to market more quickly. We are delighted to be investing once again in Ireland, where we have ourselves a long history of manufacturing our own medical imaging products.”