40 new jobs as BioMarin spends €38m expanding Cork plant 

Global biopharmaceutical company BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. has opened the expansion of its manufacturing plant at Shanbally in Cork.

The company has invested €38 million over four years to create a state-of-the-art aseptic production facility that will manufacture, package and label BioMarin therapies for global distribution.

With the expansion, BioMarin will begin end-to-end manufacturing for a number of the company’s commercial products and has the capacity to produce additional clinical and commercial products, including gene therapies, as the company grows its pipeline.

Speaking at the on-site official opening on Friday, Greg Guyer, Ph.D., Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President, Technical Operations of BioMarin, said: “Our wholly-owned, end-to-end manufacturing sites, including Shanbally, are critical to BioMarin’s global supply capabilities.

This expansion positions us as a leading manufacturing operation in Ireland and will help us maintain our industry-leading production and delivery capabilities for patients around the world.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who attended the opening on Friday afternoon, congratulated all at BioMarin on the expansion of their Cork manufacturing site which he said represents “a significant advancement for biopharma in Ireland and will also be of great benefit to patients served by BioMarin products and therapies”.

“BioMarin operates in a unique space serving those living with rare disease and I wish the company well as they continue to invest in operations in Ireland to meet the needs of the rare disease community,” he said.

CEO of IDA Ireland, Michael Lohan, said: “Since first establishing in Cork just over 10 years ago, BioMarin has continued to innovate and invest in its Shanbally site, which remains the company’s only manufacturing facility outside of the US.

As a global leader in the manufacturing of treatments for rare diseases, BioMarin’s ongoing investment in Ireland is a welcome endorsement of the country’s position globally as a location of choice for biopharmaceuticals.

The expansion announced on Friday builds on BioMarin’s growth over a decade of operations in Ireland and the company’s 25-year history in responding to the needs of people with rare conditions across the globe and gives the company’s only manufacturing site outside of the United States a fully integrated manufacturing process, from bulk drug substance to drug product to final packaging.

BioMarin is also actively progressing with recruitment for more than 40 roles across its operations at the Shanbally site over the coming years.

Site Lead and Vice President of Shanbally Manufacturing Operations of BioMarin International Limited, Conor Delaney, said: “BioMarin’s culture revolves around a sense of community, collaboration, and a commitment to high performance.

“Our people are driven to discover and develop medicines that give patients, their families and caregivers hope where there was little or none.”