ABBOTT LABS yesterday officially opened its latest Irish operation – an international headquarters to support products in the US company’s portfolio that have come off patent.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen attended the opening ceremony at Santry in Dublin. Abbott’s Mature Products Management unit will employ 50 senior staff. Already, 37 people have been recruited, with the balance expected to be in place over the next 12 to 18 months.
Olivier Bohuon, senior vice-president (international pharmaceuticals) of Abbott, said the company was the first international healthcare group to establish a dedicated support operation to “build on the opportunities for its mature brands”.
“Most companies typically invest heavily in supporting new products to market,” he said. “This innovative approach by Abbott in providing dedicated support to its mature brands . . . will ensure these products can continue to be accessed by patients in both established and emerging markets.”
Just one year in operation, it is already producing revenues of about €3.8 billion.
Brendan McAtamney, the man in charge of the Dublin mature business operations plant, points to its success in formulating a sugar-free version of the popular anti-inflammatory medication brufen, making it available to diabetics for the first time.
“In 2007, sales of brufen were down 5 per cent; last year, with the inclusion of the sugar-free version, sales of the drug jumped 16 per cent,” he said.
The pharmaceuticals industry expects that a large percentage of the sector’s growth over the next few years will come from emerging markets, with Abbott noting that opportunities will be particularly strong for primary care products.
Mr Bohuon says the importance of emerging markets means products managed by the new business could account for half of company growth in the next few years.
“Ireland will be at the heart of this growth with the establishment of this new operation,” the company said, adding that it marked an important strategic move to support the growth of the US group’s primary care brands in key markets.
As a side effect, it will also help preserve employment at plants that might otherwise become redundant with the expiry of patents on key drugs.
Mr Bohuon said the fact that Ireland manufactured a lot of the products that will come under the new operation was one factor in locating the new plant here.
“Ireland is also close to the Paris European headquarters of Abbott international pharmaceuticals and has the sort of talent pool we needed in order to recruit to these senior positions,” he added.
Abbott employs 3,800 people in seven separate businesses in Ireland.
