Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has announced a further €927 million investment at its facility at Raheen in Limerick, creating a further 150 jobs there.
The company, also known as Lilly, last year announced a similar-sized investment in establishing the manufacturing facility at Raheen.
This facility is dedicated to the production of biologic active ingredients for the company's portfolio of treatments for Alzheimer's disease, and which is expected to bring employment for 300 people.
Lilly's latest investment will allow for increased production at the Limerick plant, which it said is the most ambitious manufacturing expansion in the company’s history, and will bring to 450 the number of people employed at the Raheen site when it goes into production next summer.
The Limerick site is a fully integrated digital plant, enabling the production and delivery of quality medicine.
It is also being built with ambitious sustainability targets, using 35% less energy, 40% less water and 15% less waste than traditional bio pharmaceutical production processes.
Lilly Executive Vice President Anne E White said: "Alzheimer's disease is a devastating diagnosis for both the patient and their families, and places a huge burden on society.
"The treatment planned for the Limerick plant offers the potential to be able to slow the progression of early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease and make life better for millions of people around the world."
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The company also formally opened a major expansion at its Kinsale plant, marking an investment of €726m in a digital first integrated manufacturing platform for creating complex peptides to ensure the safe and reliable supply of Lilly’s diabetes and obesity medications.
It also has a global business plant at Little Island and employs 2,000 people across its two Cork sites.
Lilly CEO David Ricks said they had been impressed with the talent pool they have found in Limerick and the ability of the region to attract others from across Europe to come and work at the Limerick plant.
The jobs will include manufacturing and quality control associates, engineers, IT specialists, and research and development specialists.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke said the investments will contribute to the treatment of diseases affecting millions of people across the world.
"The company had made a huge commitment to Ireland for almost half a century and these announcements further solidify their confidence in Ireland as a global leader in the bio-pharma sector," he added.
