Ashland, a company that specialises in enabling the use of slow release medicines, has completed a major expansion of its Mullingar campus.
The €15 million investment sees the plant that specialises in the use of Bioresorbable polymers for injectable medicines increase its footprint fivefold with the addition of new laboratories, clean rooms and manufacturing capacity.
A bioresorbable polymer is a solution that contains an active drug that can be released over time in a predetermined manner as the polymer dissolves in the body and is excreted as waste.
As drug companies look at new delivery systems to allow patients with chronic conditions to receive their injections less often, demand for bioresorbable polymers is rising. The product can also be used to more finely target sometimes highly toxic medicines for conditions such as cancer, reducing the harmful side effects on patients.
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The speed of release among other factors is determined by the specific chemistry of the polymer, with Sean McMahon, who runs the Mullingar site as global business manager of pharmaceutical injectables, saying that Ashland supplies more than 70 grades of polymer for clients.
Ashland said the expansion, its second in the past four years at the plant which is focused on “delivery of innovative bioresorbable polymer chemistry to meet increasing market demand”, was completed on schedule with support from IDA Ireland.
The company said the investment will lead to employment at the plant multiplying but it refused to say how many people it employs there.
According to the most recently filed accounts for Ashland Specialties Ireland Limited, formerly Vornia – the Mullingar-based company acquired by Ashland back in 2017 – the average number of employees on site in the year to September 2023 was 16. That number is expected to rise to about 40 following this investment.
Ashland supplies samples for drug companies that are developing new drugs or reformulating the approach for existing drugs as well as manufacturing some of Ashland’s portfolio of polymers.
The investment “showcases Ashland’s commitment to continued innovation in injectables technology”, Alessandra Faccin, senior vice-president and general manager for life sciences at Ashland said. “We are actively engaging with our customers to help them solve for performance attributes that reduce injection frequency and yield better therapy outcomes.”
Bioresorbable polymers can also be used to reduce the metal required in medical devices and implants and in the use of dermal fillers and other regenerative medical products.
“Ireland’s reputation as a leading hub for life sciences is further strengthened by Ashland’s expansion of its operations here,” said Mary Buckley, executive director of IDA Ireland.
Dr McMahon said Ashland was “accelerating the delivery of cutting-edge chemistry and responding to growing customer requirements for existing and new polymers with greater speed”.
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