Carlow is to get 170 jobs over the next three years after pharmaceutical firm Merck announced it was to set up a €200 million facility in the region.
The world's seventh-largest pharmaceutical firm is planning a vaccine facility with the help of IDA Ireland. It will be the first standalone human-vaccine project in Ireland and will support Merck's human vaccines business.
The 170 jobs - which will be across management, quality control, production, engineering, R&D and administration areas - will be created by 2011. The company employs 460 people at its operations in Tipperary and Dublin.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin said the new facility would bring several hundred jobs during construction and would require specialist services and support activities once operational.
"This latest investment represents a very significant consolidation of Ireland's high-profile position as a successful location for substantial biotechnology global investments," the Minister said.
The news is a welcome boost for Carlow town, which has suffered a spate of redundancies in recent times, the most recent being at the Braun factory.
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