Pfizer Pharmaceuticals is planning a £200 million extension to its plant in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork. The plant, which makes a key element of the impotence drug Viagra, applied yesterday to Cork County Council for planning permission to extend its plant. The new project would lead to around 100 permanent jobs in the plant, where 320 people are currently employed. A company spokesman said yesterday evening that up to 400 people could be employed in the construction phase, which he expected would last for two to three years.
The expansion programme must still be approved by the board of Pfizer's US parent company, which is based in New York, and is officially at the "design" stage. However, the decision to apply locally for planning permission would indicate that management in Ringaskiddy is confident that the project will get the go ahead.
Given the relatively low number of additional jobs and the strong profitably of the organisation, the new expansion would be unlikely to qualify for a high level of grant assistance from IDA Ireland. New pharmaceutical plants require a high level of capital investment and the £200 million expansion, if it goes ahead, would be one of the largest industrial expansion programmes underway in the State.
The Pfizer plant has come to prominence due to its manufacturing of an element of the Viagra drug, which has also boosted Pfizer's profitability. The plant also produces a range of other chemical products. The company spokesman said that the new expansion was designed to cater for new products, which the company expected to be coming on stream in the years ahead.
The expansion project would involve the construction of new manufacturing facilities, laboratories, warehousing and other associated facilities, he said. It would be the latest in a series of expansions by the company and would provide a major boost to the Ringaskiddy area.
New export figures published yesterday indicated that exports from the Ringaskiddy plant are a significant contributor to the growth in overseas sales from industry this year. In the first three months of this year, sales of organic chemicals - the sector in which Pfizer's Viagra component would be counted - ran 67 per cent ahead of the same period last year, recording a total of £1.58 billion. In March alone, £553 million of organic chemicals were exported, up from £311 million in the same month last year.
The Viagra drug has led to international attention on the Ringaskiddy plant and has strongly boosted the performance and share price of Pfizer. Even the Church of England's finances have benefited. The value of the church commissioners' shareholding in Pfizer has almost doubled since the end of last year when it was worth £1 million.
A church commissioners spokesman was quoted as saying that the job of the organisation was to invest wisely. "We have certainly had a good return on that investment," he said. Pfizer has had a long association with Ireland and recently sold the Schneider NAMIC operation in Tullamore, Co Offaly, to Boston Scientific as part of a $2.1 billion (£1.5 billion) deal.
Pfizer, which sold the Tullamore plant as part of its disposal of Schneider Worldwide, also indicated that it was considering the future of Howmedica. This company employs 400 people in Limerick and Shannon, manufacturing orthopaedic devices such as artificial hip implants. Set up in 1969, it is a highly-regarded company in its field.
