The first commercial scale gene therapy manufacturing facility in the country has been formally opened at the giant MeiraGTx facility at the Shannon Industrial Estate in Co Clare.
The company occupies a 150,000 square foot plant in Shannon in which three distinct, but integrated facets of its business are located to streamline gene therapy development, as well as manufacturing plasmid DNA - which is a critical starting material for producing gene therapy products - and a quality control hub which is essential for testing the product to meet rigorous regulatory demands.
The company's work is aimed at delivering treatments for patients living with serious diseases.
The Shannon site will allow it to accelerate development and delivery of gene therapy treatments to patients facing a wide range of both genetic and non hereditary disorders - ranging from inherited vision loss, salivary gland conditions and neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, and potentially diabetes, obesity, and some cancers.
100 people are employed at the giant Shannon facility in this first phase, which the company says they plan to increase to 300 as they scale up their manufacturing and testing production.
Speaking at the formal opening today, attended by the Taoiseach, CEO Alexandria Forbes said the Shannon facility was unique not just in Ireland but globally, as everything is done in-house with months and potentially years of time saved for the delivery of advanced therapeutic products for patients.
Speaking to employees and business guests today, she said: "The manufacturing aspect of our product is so important and its quality is determined by that and so you need it to be the best it possibly can be to make the highest quality impact.
"When we looked around the world we could not find such a facility so we built it here. In addition, in order to release your products, you must show the global regulatory environment that you have tested it well. So we not only built a manufacturing plant here but also a high-quality testing facility to fulfil all regulatory obligations demanded of us."
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said great strides are being made in the area of gene therapy and these new facilities will allow MeiraGTx to remain at the forefront of that.
He said the company's commitment to Shannon and the mid-west speaks to the considerable skills and ability of the Irish workforce.
