Wyeth, which employs 3,000 people at its four Irish bases, is to establish a new bio-therapeutic drug research facility at UCD, with the support of the IDA.
The facility will be located at the Conway Institute at UCD and will employ 12 top research scientists who will focus on "product discovery, pre-clinical research and drug discovery technology development".
Its work will focus on five main disease areas - inflammation, oncology, women's health and musculoskeletal biology, cardiovascular and metabolic disease and neuroscience.
Making the announcement today, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin said: "This facility. . . is a significant endorsement of Ireland as a location for drug discovery research. Investment in this type of research is at the strategic core of what companies like Wyeth do and as such it is a highly significant step for the company to take in Ireland," Mr Martin said.
"It will demonstrate to the international pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical community throughout the world the calibre of this country's talents and abilities in the field of leading-edge research and development."
The results of the research will feed into the Wyeth campus at Grange Castle, one of the world's largest biopharmaceutical plants, for product and process development.
Dr Frank Walsh, executive vice president and head of Wyeth Discovery Research, said the collaboration confirms the company's commitment to Ireland and builds on its capacity for the development of biotechnology therapies that will "undoubtedly lead to long-term benefits to patient health".
Wyeth Corporation, which has its headquarters in New Jersey in the US, claims the title of 10 thlargest pharmaceutical company in the world and employs 51,000 people. Its worldwide sales in 2004 amounted to $17.4 billion and R&D spending was $2.46 billion.