Abbott Laboratories Inc. is cutting 250 jobs at its facility in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland. Officials at the medical device manufacturer said the reductions were necessary to respond to the “changing needs of the competitive environment.”

Abbott employs 1,400 people at the site. Roughly 200 of the jobs will be cut from permanent staff and up to 50 further contract workers will not have their contracts renewed. Abbott employs more than 3,200 people across 11 sites in Ireland.

According to the AbbottPark, Ill.-based company, Clonmel will focus on the manufacture of new vascular medical devices that will require a capital investment to incorporate new equipment.

In January, Abbott completed its split, with separation of its research-based pharmaceuticals business, which became AbbVie, a new independent biopharmaceutical company. AbbVie began trading independently on the New York Stock Exchange today under the symbol ABBV.

Abbott announced in October 2011 that it was separating into two independent companies, as its businesses evolved into two different investment identities. AbbVie is a research-based specialty biopharmaceuticals company with a broad portfolio of medicines, including leadership in immunology and virology, and a pipeline of breakthrough therapies. Abbott will focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic pharmaceuticals.

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