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Almac pours $90M into N. Ireland, adding 350 jobs

Contract developer Almac has earmarked £54 million ($90 million) to expand in its native Northern Ireland, planning to add 348 jobs over 5 years.

Under the plan, Almac will recruit 141 new employees for its pharma services division, which focuses on drug development and manufacturing work. The company will add another 181 positions to its clinical services segment, which provides logistical and supply chain management services to pharma outfits.

Some of the cash will go toward expanding Almac's technology, the company said, bolstering its development equipment and distribution capabilities and necessitating another 26 jobs.

Almac already employs more than 2,100 people at its Craigavon headquarters, and the latest expansion follows a 2013 effort to add 229 jobs through a $21.5 million investment at the same site.

Local development outfit Invest Northern Ireland kicked in about £5.5 million ($9.2 million) to support Almac's latest move, part of what company CEO Alan Armstrong says is a nurturing business culture in the area. 

"We are fortunate to employ an excellent highly-skilled workforce at our Craigavon headquarters which has played a major role in our global growth," Anderson said in a statement. "It's fantastic that demand for our services has resulted in the creation of so many new jobs as we embark on further expansion over the next 5 years."

- read the statement