MSD opens new R&D facility Print this article
Michael Sweetman reports on the opening of the new pharmaceutical formulation R&D facility at MSD in Ballydine
The new €100m pharmaceutical R&D facility at MSD in Ballydine, Co. Tipperary was recently officially opened by the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD; Willie Deese, executive vice president and president, Merck Manufacturing Division; and David O’Connell, general manager, MSD in Ballydine.
Construction on the 9,300 m2 facility began in September 2007, and as a result 70 new high-calibre positions have been created. It is anticipated that this number could increase to 120 as further innovative medicines are developed at the facility. An additional €6m investment is currently in progress, in order to extend the new facility and add extra capacity.
MSD employs 2,300 people across eight operations in Ireland including Ballydine and has invested over €2.2bn in Ireland over the last five decades. The Ballydine site, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, was established in 1976 in Co. Tipperary, where the operation now employs 450 people.
In recent years, the plant has expanded its business from producing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for use by Merck & Co., Inc. subsidiaries throughout the world to include the development of late stage clinical APIs which has resulted in the development of the new R&D facility.
Facility mission
The new facility’s mission is to develop innovative methods for the formulation of new medicines from pilot to commercial scale and supply tablets for late stage clinical trials, launch and early stage supply, and it is currently in validation/start-up.
It uses innovative technology platforms in order to develop processes for the formulation of solid dosage pharmaceutical product candidates used in late stage clinical trials. The formulation manufacturing facility will also enable the plant to manufacture initial launch quantities of newly-approved medicines.
The Taoiseach, speaking at the official opening of the new facility stated:“This strategically important development for MSD, which brings R&D and high-value jobs to our economy, is a significant endorsement of Ireland’s wealth of talent and expertise.”
David O’Connell also stated that this new facility “underpins Ballydine’s strategic importance within the MSD global network and significantly increases and diversifies the level of high profile research and development conducted at the site which, in turn, is the lifeblood for the growth of the company and the life sciences industry as a whole.”
There are currently six new innovative medicines in development at MSD in Ballydine, including a new candidate medicine for the combined treatment of high cholesterol and Type II Diabetes, which affects 90 per cent of the 346m people worldwide who have diabetes (WHO, Aug 2011) and a new candidate medicine for the treatment of Hepatitis C, which accounts for more than 350,000 deaths each year worldwide (WHO, June 2011).
The other candidate medicines in development at Ballydine for unmet medical needs cover such diverse areas as insomnia, osteoporosis and cardiovascular illness. MSD in Ballydine also supplies material in support of MSD’s clinical research programme worldwide. MSD, which has a worldwide annual R&D budget of $8.6bn, has five top priority candidate medicine research programs worldwide and three of these are now being developed at the Ballydine facility.
Michael Sweetman Chartered Engineer, B.E., Eur. Ing., MIEI, Dip. C.L. C.A., is a certified LSS Black Belt and is currently senior LSS leader with MSD Ballydine. After graduating from UCD with a BE in Electronic Engineering, he spent eight years based in the Netherlands.