A US healthcare company aims to create 100 new posts over four years in Galway at a new international business centre targeting European and Asian markets.

Alere, a 10-year-old company with headquarters in Massachusetts, develops and manufactures diagnostic and health management products ranging from pregnancy testing to HIV testing kits.

It has global sales of over $2 billion and a network of manufacturing, research and development, and sales subsidiaries.

It describes itself as a “global leader” in rapid diagnostics for cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, toxicology, oncology and women’s health.

The new service centre at the IDA Ireland business and technology centre in Parkmore, Galway, will oversee its commercial operations outside of the US. Posts will range from customer and technical support to finance, legal, vendor and logistics management, contract manufacturing management, quality assurance and regulatory affairs.

Alere’s president of business operations David Toohey paid tribute to IDA Ireland for its assistance, and said the company was “committed to addressing our non-US-based activities from one central location”.

It had chosen Ireland for its “talented workforce, pro-business environment and good prospects for success, as evidenced by the large cluster of healthcare companies operating so well”.

Mr Toohey said the company’s international business was approaching $1 billion in sales. He forecast that the Galway base would handle all non-US business within the next 18 to 24 months.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton said the announcement “built on Galway’s reputation as a centre for diagnostics and medical devices”.

“We are facing challenging times in Ireland, but sometimes we forget our strengths,” he said.