New Manufacturing Investment for Donegal Town by Abbott

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin TD today (Tuesday 21^st March 2006) announced that Abbott, one of the world’s largest healthcare companies, is to make a further high value healthcare investment in Ireland of €36 million, with the support of IDA Ireland, to establish a manufacturing facility for its diabetes care products in Donegal Town. It will create 155 high quality jobs with over 45% requiring a third level qualification.

Abbott has six manufacturing operations in Ireland, producing pharmaceutical, medical devices, nutritional and diagnostics products, in Sligo, Cootehill, Galway and Longford and employing over 2,200 people. Abbott Diabetes Caredevelops and manufactures innovative blood glucose monitoring products for people with diabetes. Abbott Diabetes Care will establish a manufacturing facility in Donegal Town to produce FreeStyle^® strips for monitoring blood glucose levels to service its growing global business.

Minister Martin said “Today’s announcement of Abbott’s investment is tremendous news for Donegal. Ireland, and particularly the BMW region, has benefited greatly from Abbott’s commitment to this country for six decades, and in return, Ireland has proven to be a highly successful location for Abbott’s global manufacturing. This latest investment will further deepen that long-term relationship. Its decision to locate in Donegal town is an important component in developing the medical technologies industry in the North West. I want to thank Abbott for its ongoing commitment to Ireland and for its decision to choose the Hospira building in which to locate its new operation.”

Minister Martin continued “The Government made a commitment to the people of Donegal town that every effort would be made to attract investment from a company the calibre of Abbott, requiring the skills and expertise available in the locality. Today’s news is a result of the combined effort of IDA Ireland, the local authorities, and the community, who all worked tirelessly to help us deliver on that promise.”

Abbott Diabetes Care designs, manufactures and markets advanced blood glucose monitoring systems. Leading brands include FreeStyle^®, and FreeStyle^® Mini™ – the smallest blood glucose monitor in the world, which works with a tiny blood sample and completes a test in an average of seven seconds. The test strips to be produced in the new facility in Donegal Town are a key component of the FreeStyle blood glucose monitoring system. The Donegal facility will help supply the global market in order to meet the rapid growth in demand due to the increased incidence and detection of diabetes in the population.

Commenting on the announcement today, Ed Fiorentino, President of Abbott Diabetes Care said, “The new facility we have planned for Donegal will involve the manufacture of advanced diabetes management solutions for people with diabetes. The success of other Abbott operations in Ireland was an important factor in our decision to locate in Donegal."