Sam Brusco, Associate Editor08.12.22
Abbott Labs will invest €440 million to build a new manufacturing plant in Kilkenny, Ireland and further jobs in Donegal, Ireland.
The company will add 1,000 jobs to its workforce in Ireland due to the expansion in order to produce more of its diabetes glucose monitoring devices, specifically the FreeStyle Libre 3 continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
FreeStyle Libre 3 is about the size of two five-cent coins and sends glucose readings every minute to a smartphone app. The app shows current glucose level, a trend arrow showing how level is changing, and plot the last six hours of readings in a graph. It can issue alarm if glucose levels are out of health range and each sensor lasts 14 days.
The decision to invest in Ireland, according to Abbott, comes from “rapid growth” of its FreeStyle CGM systems that are now used by over four million people in more than 60 countries.
“Freestyle Libre is the number one product in the world for continuous monitoring and it continues to grow very quickly,” Jared Watkin, Abbott’s senior VP of diabetes care told The Irish Times. “Clearly we need to keep up with that demand from a capacity and manufacturing investment perspective.”
The company has a strong track record in Ireland for over 75 years.
“We work well with the IDA and they were instrumental in finding a suitable site for us here in Kilkenny,” Watkin said. “And we have had an outstanding experience with the Irish workforce … which means it is a sensible strategic investment for us to keep going back there.”
Abbott hopes to open the new plant in 2024, with new jobs in engineering, quality control, medical device manufacturing, and other science-based areas. The group is also investing more at its Oxfordshire, Witney, England site, The Irish Times reported.
The company will add 1,000 jobs to its workforce in Ireland due to the expansion in order to produce more of its diabetes glucose monitoring devices, specifically the FreeStyle Libre 3 continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
FreeStyle Libre 3 is about the size of two five-cent coins and sends glucose readings every minute to a smartphone app. The app shows current glucose level, a trend arrow showing how level is changing, and plot the last six hours of readings in a graph. It can issue alarm if glucose levels are out of health range and each sensor lasts 14 days.
The decision to invest in Ireland, according to Abbott, comes from “rapid growth” of its FreeStyle CGM systems that are now used by over four million people in more than 60 countries.
“Freestyle Libre is the number one product in the world for continuous monitoring and it continues to grow very quickly,” Jared Watkin, Abbott’s senior VP of diabetes care told The Irish Times. “Clearly we need to keep up with that demand from a capacity and manufacturing investment perspective.”
The company has a strong track record in Ireland for over 75 years.
“We work well with the IDA and they were instrumental in finding a suitable site for us here in Kilkenny,” Watkin said. “And we have had an outstanding experience with the Irish workforce … which means it is a sensible strategic investment for us to keep going back there.”
Abbott hopes to open the new plant in 2024, with new jobs in engineering, quality control, medical device manufacturing, and other science-based areas. The group is also investing more at its Oxfordshire, Witney, England site, The Irish Times reported.