Some 810 jobs will be created by Co Antrim-based Randox Laboratories in a £123 million ( €175 million) investment - the biggest ever by a Northern Ireland firm.
Randox, which manufactures clinical diagnostic products, said it would triple its workforce over the next three years, with graduates and other specialists accounting for 70 per cent of recruits.
Managing director Dr Peter Fitzgerald said Randox, with headquarters in Crumlin, is researching new technologies to "revolutionise" healthcare.
He said: "It is a strategically important investment for the firm because it positions us at the forefront of the development of complete diagnostic systems."
Randox operates four test plants in the North. It has a 30,000 strong client base, principally hospital laboratories across 30 countries. The latest investment focuses on the development of an automated analyser machine and unique biochip that enables clinicians to diagnose many diseases from a single sample of blood or urine from a patient.
Almost 180 scientists at Randox have been involved in the development of the new equipment, called Evidence. Using the new technology, hospital laboratories will be able to conduct 25 or more simultaneous tests on single samples on a 1cm biochip from 180 patients per hour.
Invest NI, Northern Ireland's industrial development agency, has provided £16.2 million in grants and £1.74 million towards setting up a centre of excellence under its research and technology development programme. The investment will copperfasten the North's standing as a biotechnology "hotbed", said Northern Ireland's Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Mr Ian Pearson .
He said: "Randox is a first class example of an entrepreneurial Northern Ireland business that has achieved major international success through continuous investment in innovation in R&D, product development and global marketing.
"The new diagnostic system pioneered by Randox represents world class technology that will establish this company as an industry leader and will raise Northern Ireland's profile as an international biotechnology research centres."
With traditional manufacturing jobs increasingly no longer sustainable, fields such as biotechnology took on an even greater importance, said Mr Pearson.
He added he believed there would be more investment in such fields in Northern Ireland by external companies and further spin-offs with businesses set up on the back of university research.
