Craigavon based global contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organisation, Almac Group, has secured new premises in Dundalk, County Louth to support its ongoing global expansion plans in response to increased client demand.

Almac will make a £ multimillion investment in the new facility at IDA Business Park. The expansion has been supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland, Ireland’s inward investment promotion agency.

The facility will be utilised by Almac Pharma Services and Almac Clinical Services, both of which are registered to operate in the Republic of Ireland. The new premises increases the Group’s European footprint by 32,000sq ft and provides continued presence within the European Union in the long term.

This investment comes just weeks after Almac confirmed ambitious plans to expand its operations at its global Headquarters in Northern Ireland with the construction of a new laboratory and additional office facilities. The company simultaneously announced investment at its North American site creating an additional 300 new, full time jobs. These investments will see an increase of Almac’s global headcount to over 5,000 by the end of 2017.

Alan Armstrong, CEO Almac Group commented: “This latest investment in Dundalk is a further example of Almac’s ambitious global expansion plans and will deliver up to an additional 100 new jobs within the first two years. This news comes in addition to our recent announcement of a £27m investment at our global Headquarter site in Craigavon, our US operations and our European facility in Athlone. All of this is evidence of Almac’s commitment to provide best-in-class products and services to our clients across the world and we would like to thank all those who have supported us to date.”

Welcoming the investment by Almac, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor said: “This is a very exciting project for Dundalk and builds on the strong cluster of multinational companies who have very successfully located in that town in recent years and who have found it a great base from which to promote their sales into other EU Member States. Ireland’s expertise in the Pharma sector is unrivalled, with virtually all the major international players having operations here, thus generating synergies and opportunities for new companies investing with us. These additional 100 jobs to be provided are very welcome and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial engagement with Almac into the future”.

Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland said “Almac’s decision to expand into Dundalk provides the company with certainty of access to the European Union in the long term– this certainty of access is an increasingly important selling point for Ireland as we look to win business for Ireland. IDA Ireland will continue to promote Ireland as an ideal location for companies from a range of sectors including pharmaceuticals, IT and financial services that are looking to ensure that they have a presence in the European single market.”

This investment strengthens Almac’s existing presence in the Republic of Ireland following the acquisition of Arran Chemical Company facility in Athlone in 2015. The facility has expanded the company’s biocatalysis services, which is part of Almac’s Sciences Business Unit.