Construction of a €70 million pharmaceutical facility in east Cork will begin later this month, with the creation of 150 jobs over the next year.
Altana Pharma Ltd secured the site for a high-value operation at the IDA Industrial Estate, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, last November.
According to the company, the 11-hectare site will be its only one in Europe, outside of Germany, to focus on worldwide tablet supply and will create a major global source for Altana Pharma products.
Based in Konstanz, Germany, Altana is one of the fastest growing, most profitable pharmaceutical companies in Europe.
Recruitment of key personnel began last year and an Irish general manager is now in place.
The main recruitment drive is due to begin shortly, with the majority of the new jobs going to people with a third-level qualification in pharmaceutical production.
Following regulatory approval, the Carrigtwohill site will initially produce tablets for one of the company's drugs, Roflumilast, for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.
A second medicine, Pantoprazole, which is used in over 90 countries to treat acid-induced gastrointestinal conditions and oesophagitis, will also be produced.
With more than 7,500 employees worldwide, the company achieved €1.9 billion in sales in 2002.
The news that construction is to begin shortly comes only days after Schering Plough, the international pharmaceutical giant, announced it was cutting its workforce in Ireland by 170 over the next three months.