The planned 90,000ft² quality control facility, which will have 12 production suites, is expected to enable Wasdell to provide quality control (QC) import testing for pharmaceutical products.
To be built at the IDA Dundalk Science and Technology Park in Mullagharlin, the facility will also offer a range of current and novel packaging technologies along with storage and distribution. The facility, which will be the company’s first outside of the UK, will use serialisation technology along with bespoke customer manufacturing solutions.
It will enable Wasdell to cater to the requirements of its customers for import and release testing and the primary and secondary packing of its customers’ drug products. The facility will also help in the distribution of such products into Europe and in rest of the world.
The company said that the new facility will assist with its growth strategy in the coming years and also offer a solution to Brexit in case it becomes a reality.
Initially, the Dundalk facility will manufacture blister pack and container-filling packaging formats, and will have the flexibility to provide alternative packaging forms and dosage types in the future.
Wasdell Group CEO Martin Tedham said: “With our new facility, we are not only increasing our packaging and analytical testing capacity to better service new and future customers, but with Brexit on the horizon, we are ensuring challenges and costs are minimised by preparing for every eventuality.
”This investment will provide our customers with a robust contingency plan, protecting critical supply chains and ensuring a continuous supply of pharmaceutical products post-March 2019.
“Almost 75% of our current turnover is export business and as our customer base is continuing to grow significantly in the US, this facility will allow Wasdell to remain a secure stepping stone into the European market.”
The company said that the first phase of the facility will be spread over a 2.88-hectare site and will generate 300 jobs. Wasdell also has the land options for further expansion of the site by another 2.68 hectares.