Shire reaffirms commitment to Dunboyne development

Shire’s proposed 400-job plant at Dunboyne is fully on track, with the company moving to put fears to rest that work on the new facility would stop or that the project would continue on a smaller scale.

Shire has issued a statement in which is states it remains committed “to investing in a new state-of-the-art biologics facility at Piercetown, County Meath as announced in 2016.”
“We received planning approval for this project in December last year and started preparatory/groundworks on site shortly after. These works have been progressing well.
“Earlier this year the project completed the planning phase and is undergoing design review prior to commencing execution, which will include full construction activities. This review is consistent with standard industry practice and is not based on any other external matters,” the statement read.
There had been speculation that the work was in jeopardy because of moves by US President Donald Trump to attract companies back to the US.
Cllr Damien O’Reilly has welcomed Shire’s reiteration of its commitment to the Dunboyne area.
“Shire have made great progress with construction on site and I continue to welcome construction workers to Dunboyne.”
In April last year, Shire announced it would create a new state of the art biologics manufacturing campus, expected to create 400 permanent jobs on a 120 acre site at Piercetown, Dunboyne, with the site expected to be operational by mid-2019.
This investment by Shire will see Meath as the location to help meet growing demand for rare disease treatments.
Using the latest bioprocessing techniques, the facility will employ flexible production strategies enabling it to supply both clinical and commercial scale products. The roles at Shire’s new campus in Dunboyne will consist of highly skilled, full time jobs in the areas of R&D, operations, technical staff, engineering and construction.
Shire employs more than 5,000 people in nearly 40 countries around the world and among its innovative drug development programs which are under way are treatments for patients facing such challenging conditions as Alzheimer’s disease and end-stage renal failure.
At the initial announcement of the project, Shire’s Chief Executive Officer, Flemming Ornskov, MD, MPH, commented: “Increasing our biologics manufacturing capability is fundamental to achieving our ambition of becoming the world’s leading Biotechnology Company focused on rare diseases and other speciality conditions.”