As the biggest beast in the biopharmaceutical arena, Amgen is exactly the sort of group that IDA Ireland goes out of its way to court.
The investment body's regionalisation remit means the Amgen deal is all the sweeter because the group's €820 million will be housed far from Dublin in the rural calm of Carrigtwohill, Co Cork.
Only weeks after the close of the IDA's best year for job creation since 2000, the initiative kicks off the 2006 season with some gusto.
If it also serves to confirm the place of the Cork region generally in the pharmaceutical fast lane, Amgen vice-president Dr Fabrizio Bonanni says that the choice of Ireland was a closely run thing after the group ran the rule over 25 countries.
The presence of global drug giants such as Pfizer, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithkline and Boston Scientific creates something of a virtuous circle for the region. The reason is simple. The fact that big groups are already here provides a compelling incentive to others to come because it signifies that expertise is already available in the region.
Biopharmaceuticals of note targeting the region include US group Centocor, which announced a €540 million project in Ringaskiddy in 2004.
Such initiatives were a particular boon for Cork, which was in contention with Switzerland and Singapore in the final shake-up for the Amgen project. "It's been a close call, but not one with high uncertainty. We're very confident we'll be successful in Ireland," says Dr Bonanni.
"It's a country that favours innovation in medicine, has a proven track record for other large-scale pharmaceutical projects that have worked well. That is an advantage to Cork. There is a hub here of several large biopharma companies.
"As an immediate consequence, the availability of engineering services, subcontractors and all things that give us confidence that we can meet our timelines and we can hit the ground running here."
Amgen wants production up and running for 2009 and full production by 2010. Assuming Cork County Council votes next month to rezoning Amgen's 130-acre site for industrial development, construction will start later this year. Amgen's Frank O'Meara, an Irishman, will lead the development of the plant for Amgen. Mark Sawyer of Amgen, who recently directed the construction of a $1.1 billion (€896 million) plant in Rhode Island, will be general manager of the site.
Dr Bonanni is well aware of rising wages in Ireland and the poor shape of some infrastructure, but he liked his dealings with Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin and IDA Ireland. "When you embark on projects of this scale, it's important to have confidence that you will have partners with you that will help you after the decision is made and when the hard work needs to come that they will be there to help out."
Some observers might see the personal touch as a "soft" factor, but Dr Bonanni says it was central to Amgen's sense of confidence about Cork. Nor did the 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate go unnoticed. "It is an important factor, absolutely," he says.
On the cost of doing business in Ireland, he says the potential to develop a top-level manufacturing plant that delivers a very high rate of success in the complex area of genetic engineering was far more important than pay rates. "This is not a simple assembly type of manufacturing where the hourly rate is what drives the end result. It is the quality of the manufacturing that drives the end result."
With 1,100 staff to recruit, 750 of them graduates, Dr Bonanni also needed to convince himself that expertise would be available locally. "Ireland came after a long selection process in which we evaluated a long list of factors - and in aggregate, Ireland stood out as the preferred place to be," he says.
"At the very top is always the availability of talent, of people with the right level of education. Ireland stood out having placed so much emphasis on education for a long time - and Cork in particular. You're looking at a population upwards of 30,000 university students here. It's remarkable. That for me is a major element."
In India last week, Micheál Martin banged the drum for the homeland in quite a new market for Irish business. Back home in Cork yesterday, the Minister was following a long tradition in welcoming yet another big US group into Ireland. Amgen has followed the crowd to Cork. Notwithstanding the volatility of multinational business, others might one day follow Amgen.
