The world's biggest biopharmaceutical company, Amgen will this week announce a €1.3 billion investment in a manufacturing facility for Cork creating upwards of 800 jobs.
The California headquarteredcompany has been looking at Ireland as a base for manufacturing for some time and IDA Ireland has won out over competition from Switzerland and Singapore to secure the manufacturing facility.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin - who returns today from a trade mission to India - will make the announcement with senior executives from Amgen tomorrow in Cork.
The Irish Times has learned that Amgen has selected a 150 acre site at Carrigtwohill in east Cork for the facility following examination of the site and its suitability in terms of local infrastructure including road and rail links.
While the initial jobs announcement is expected to be more than 800, informed sources said job numbers at the plant are likely to rise with the operation having the potential to create over 1,000 jobs in time.
The selected area at Ballyadam on the eastern side of the east Cork village has been rezoned by Cork County Council for industrial development and the council has already prepared plans for improvement of the road network including a flyover.
Sources have confirmed that Cork County Council has been working closely with IDA Ireland and the National Roads Authority to put in place infrastructural improvements on the road to meet Amgen's requirements.
The site is also adjacent to the old Cork-Youghal railway line and the Cork-Midleton section of the line has been earmarked for re-opening by Iarnród Éireann and included in the Government's transport plan announced last October.
It is understood that Amgen is considering constructing its own siding from the Cork-Midleton line which would allow product be transported by rail from the plant for export to the European market.
Amgen - which is based at Thousand Oaks, California - is quoted on the Fortune 500 list of top US companies and employs some 14,000 people worldwide in the manufacture and distribution of bio pharmaceutical products.
It is understood the high quality of science graduates emerging from both University College Cork and Cork Institute of Technology was also an assistance to IDA Ireland in persuading Amgen to locate in Cork.
The success of existing pharmachem companies such as Pfizer, GSK, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Janssen and Schering Plough as well as bio medical devices manufacturer, Boston Scientific since they set up operations in Cork was also noted by Amgen when making its decision.
