Regeneron Announces 300 Additional Jobs In Limerick

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., one of the fastest-growing companies in the global biotechnology industry, recently announced further expansion of its Limerick Industrial Operations and Product Supply (IOPS) bioprocessing campus with an additional 300 jobs and investment of $100M, bringing the total expected employment at the site to 800 people and total investment to $750M. The project is supported by the government through IDA Ireland.

Since 2013, when Regeneron first announced plans to invest in operations in Ireland, the company has consistently exceeded job and investment projections for its Irish Operations. In October 2015, Regeneron projected employment in Ireland would reach 500 by the end of 2017. As Regeneron’s Irish expansion continues with employment expected to rise to 800 by the end of 2018, recruitment is ongoing for high-end specialist positions in commercial manufacturing, process sciences, quality assurance/control/validation and various support functions.

Regeneron’s 400,000 square foot, state-of-the-art production facility in Limerick is the largest scale bulk biologics production facility in Ireland and one of the largest biologic production operations in the world. The additional $100M investment will support the construction of a number of manufacturing suites to increase drug substance production capacity and enable the company to meet demand for its life-transforming medicines for patients with serious diseases.

Welcoming the investment and jobs announcement Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD said; "I'm delighted to welcome additional highly skilled and diverse Regeneron jobs to Limerick. Regeneron’s decision to expand so significantly is testament to the talent pool and attractive business environment available to companies in Ireland. This planned further expansion by Regeneron in Limerick is a significant contribution to the rejuvenation of the region.”

Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Frances Fitzgerald TD said; “Regeneron, a leader in the global biopharma industry, set up in Limerick in 2014 and has created a world-class science hub to produce medicine for millions of people. I am delighted to see the great progress made to date giving rise to further substantial investment and additional jobs to be created in Limerick. It is great news for Limerick and the wider region.”

Dan Van Plew, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Industrial Operations and Product Supply (IOPS) at Regeneron, said; “Gut feel is a large portion of any site selection. When we picked Limerick years ago, we simply felt good about the community, universities and people. A few years and a lot of experience later, I can now confidently say I know Limerick is a place where you can build and thrive as a biotech. We are proud of what has happened here and the vast majority of this work has been completed by people who come from Munster. These folks built, validated and began production in a way I’d put up against any other team on the planet. We feel at home here and the way we have been welcomed has made our ongoing growth and investment in Limerick rewarding on the most personal levels.”

Niall O’Leary, Vice President and Site Head, IOPS Raheen, said; “Limerick offers an exceptionally good location for U.S. multinationals. Located just 30 minutes from Shannon Airport with a five hour time difference from New York, Ireland is also a midway point for U.S. executives linking into our partners, such as Bayer in Germany and Sanofi in France. In addition, the very favourable business environment along with the support provided by IDA Ireland and Limerick City and County Council make the city an ideal home for Regeneron.”

Speaking of the investment, Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland, said; “An additional $100M investment and 300 jobs commitment by Regeneron is a huge boost for the Mid-West Region. The Irish Government is committed to continuing to invest in our education, research and broader ecosystem to ensure that Ireland remains the competitive location of choice for new biotech manufacturing operations. Combined with the regulatory and licencing regime applying to pharma in Ireland, Ireland is a hot-spot location for biologics investment and career opportunity in biologics.”

In addition to the production facility in Limerick, Regeneron’s European Business Operations for IOPS, the company has a growing Dublin office, currently employing 30 people and serving as the company’s European Business Administration headquarters. Regeneron’s total headcount in Ireland is expected to approach 850 by the end of 2018.

About Regeneron
Regeneron is a leading biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. Founded and led for nearly 30 years by physician-scientists, our unique ability to repeatedly and consistently translate science into medicine has led to numerous EMA- and FDA-approved treatments and over a dozen product candidates in development, all of which were homegrown in our laboratories. Our medicines and pipeline are designed to help patients with eye disease, heart disease, allergic and inflammatory diseases, pain, cancer, infectious diseases and rare diseases.

Regeneron is accelerating and improving the traditional drug development process through our proprietary VelociSuite technologies, including VelocImmune to yield optimized fully-human antibodies, and ambitious initiatives such as the Regeneron Genetics Center, one of the largest genetics sequencing efforts in the world.

About Regeneron Limerick
Regeneron’s 400,000 square foot, state-of-the-art Industrial Operations and Product Supply (IOPS) facility in the Raheen Business Park is the largest scale bulk biologics production facility in Ireland. The facility became operational in 2015. IOPS is responsible for the production, packaging, labelling and delivery of Regeneron medicines. IOPS manufactures a broad range of biopharmaceuticals for patients worldwide, including therapeutic proteins approved for marketing by regional or national regulatory agencies and those involved in clinical studies.

Recruitment is underway to bring on additional high-end specialist jobs in commercial manufacturing, process sciences, quality assurance/control and various support functions for scientists, chemists and technicians. For more information, visit www.regeneron.ie.