Abbott to provide major boost for Sligo € 55 million investment in new facility

Mary Harney TD, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, announced today (Friday, 20th July, 2001) that Abbott Laboratories has concluded negotiations with IDA Ireland for a €55 million investment to establish a major new pharmaceuticals manufacturing facility in Sligo, which will employ 195 people.

This is the first Abbott facility in Ireland specifically devoted to pharmaceuticals. Abbott has a Dublin based distribution company and five important facilities around Sligo, Donegal and Cootehill, Co. Cavan, employing between them almost 1,700 people in the production of a range of medical devices, diagnostic and nutritional products. Abbott has operated in Ireland for more than 50 years.

The proposed new project involves the construction of a facility to provide for the manufacture of bulk and final dosage pharmaceuticals. The buildings, totalling about 63,000 sq. ft., will be on Abbott’s own 116-acre site at Ballytivan, near Sligo town. Planning applications have already been lodged with the local authorities and the company expects to begin construction as soon as the planning approvals are granted.

Abbott Laboratories will produce a range of drugs at this site. The new facilities will be a centre of excellence for the Abbott organisation and will be of strategic importance to the company worldwide.

"Nine of the world’s top ten pharmaceuticals corporations have major facilities in Ireland and the sector employs over 15,000 people in more than 120 IDA-supported companies across the country. Abbott’s long-standing presence in Ireland, coupled with this new Abbott facility, will be a great addition to the sector," added the Tánaiste.

Abbott Laboratories, headquartered near Chicago, is a global, diversified healthcare company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals, nutritionals, and medical products, including devices and diagnostics. The company employs approximately 70,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries. In 2000, the company's sales and net earnings were $13.7 billion and $2.8 billion.

The Tánaiste, in welcoming this decision for major new investment in Sligo, said that Abbott was one of the most strategically important companies in the North-West and a major contributor to the regions economic development, having a wage bill alone of around € 35 million and an annual Irish economy expenditure of around € 50 million. She noted that this Sligo investment was following rapidly on the announcement in March this year of a € 63.5 million IDA-backed investment by Abbott in their Donegal town facility, to bring that medical device facility into the next generation of business and secure a strong future for the 550 employees there.

Abbott Ireland contact: Bill Carty, Finance Director , Tel: 071 55620 (Office) or 087 2566 453 (Mobile)