THE merger of Glaxo and SmithKline Beecham (SKB) and the integration of their operations are not expected to result in job losses in Ireland.
The two pharmaceutical groups employ about 800 people in manufacturing, research and sales in the Irish market.
Anglo/US group SKB has the larger presence in this market, with two manufacturing plants currently employing more than 660 people. By the end of this year, the group will have invested about £250 million in its Irish facilities.
The company started in Ireland in 1975 with its Penn Chemicals subsidiary, which manufactured the anti-ulcer drug, Tagamet. When the Tagamet patent expired in 1994, the plant was developed to become a multi-product facility. In a statement yesterday, Glaxo SmithKline said that it was "too early to positively state what the future will bring". But it added that its investment and expansion to date in Ireland and its advanced plant and research and development facilities boded well for the future. In Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, where bulk base ingredients for tablets are produced, around 320 people are employed.
The plant was expanded and modernised in late 1997 in a £30 million investment, and again in a £214 million expansion announced in late 1998. This latest phase is currently underway and is adding a new pilot manufacturing operation and research and development facilities. Employment at Ringaskiddy is expected to increase by a further 280 people within the next two to three years.
This plant is considered modern and advanced in the industry. Sources consider rationalisation at Ringaskiddy unlikely. In its statement, SKB said it is currently adding an R&D facility to its existing "state-of-the-art facility" in Cork. This addition will strengthen the plant's contribution to the corporation, it said. SKB's second Irish manufacturing plant is located at Dungarvan, where 320 people are employed. This is a finishing plant for tablets. In addition, SKB has a Dublin-based marketing and sales operation, which is divided into consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical sections and employs some 130 people.
Glaxo has no manufacturing operations in Ireland. The group employs about 110 people in south Dublin, mainly in servicing the Irish market - packaging, sales and distribution - and in drug testing. Sources suggested that rationalisation would not be an issue at the sales and marketing divisions of the groups in Dublin. "Both groups have very strong product lines and it is unlikely that they will reduce numbers in these divisions. They are more likely to use the synergies to add overall market strength," one industry source commented. It is understood that Glaxo approached IDA Ireland in recent months for exploratory talks about establishing a manufacturing plant here from which to serve the European market. It is understood that no definite proposal has yet been put forward by the group.
