Abbott Opens New Diabetes Care Mfg Facility in Ireland

Abbott has opened is new manufacturing facility in Kilkenny, Ireland.

The site is a global manufacturing center for Abbott’s diabetes care business and will employ over 800 people.

This Kilkenny facility is part of a €440 million investment in Ireland, which also includes an expansion of Abbott’s Donegal site, where another 200 jobs are being created. The 30,000-square-meter Kilkenny facility is producing FreeStyle Libre 3 sensors, the latest generation in Abbott’s continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) portfolio.

The site is fully electric, powered by six air-to-water heat pumps. It has almost 600 solar panels on the roof and touts tanks for collecting rainwater to use onsite.

Abbott also announced a new $100,000 grant to The Ireland Funds. The grant will fund three 2024 Leaving Certificate graduates, enabling them to take up third-level education. The scholarship recipients are all from local DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools including Coláiste Mhuire, Grennan College and Castlecomer Community School. All students are pursuing their education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects.

Speaking at the event, An Taoiseach, Simon Harris, TD, said, “Abbott, which has been in Ireland since 1946, is one of the longest-established global companies and largest employers in our country. This latest investment is a further vote of confidence in Ireland as a location for world-class advanced manufacturing and healthcare businesses. With the opening of this new site, Ireland is now at the global centre of diabetes care.”

“This is our latest commitment to providing innovative care and supporting people with diabetes to live healthier lives,” said Robert Ford, chairman and CEO, Abbott. “The state-of-the-art Kilkenny facility will have the highest production of Libre sensors in the world to help meet the growing global demand for our world-leading FreeStyle Libre portfolio.”