Carrigtwohill biopharmaceutical plant gets green light for €45m facility expansion

Gilead Sciences in Carrigtwohill are constructing a €45m facility expansion after planning was granted for the multi-million euro upgrade.

The world-leading biopharmaceutical company said the development would ensure its Cork manufacturing base continues to play a central Master Distributor role in the company's supply chain and its plans to achieve carbon neutrality in worldwide operations.

David Cadogan, Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at Gilead Sciences, said “This investment reinforces Gilead’s commitment to Ireland and will significantly expand storage capacity in Carrigtwohill, which is currently responsible for 30% of all of Gilead’s solid oral drug production. This is an exciting time for Gilead globally, and this development will facilitate additional future investment in our manufacturing and packaging capabilities in Ireland as we look to support an expanded Gilead product portfolio in the years ahead.” 

The new 5,176 sq. m (55,714 sq. ft) warehouse is designed to the highest sustainability standards and has a target of being a net zero emissions building with an LEED Gold Rating.

As part of this, it will be fitted with 764 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels delivering 340KW of energy to enable the site expansion without an increase in carbon emissions. When combined with existing onsite PV solar panels (1,489 activated in spring 2022), solar energy is expected to provide approximately 10% of the total energy needed to power the Carrigtwohill facility.

“We take our commitment to environmental sustainability seriously. In addition to our expansion in Cork, our new Paediatric Centre of Excellence in Dublin’s North Dock was the city’s first commercial office to achieve ‘near zero energy building’ status.

“By constructing buildings to the highest standards, producing clean energy on-site and achieving emissions savings across-the-board, we can continue to play an important role in rising to the challenge of combating climate change,” Cadogan added.

The planned warehouse is expected to house up to 5,800 pallet spaces and will include storage capacity for Raw Materials and Finished Goods products within the Gilead Ireland network.

Construction for the new facility is expected to start in April 2023 and is expected to take 19 months.