By Business & Finance 
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, today announced that Alexion Pharmaceuticals is expanding its global presence with the opening of a new office and laboratory facility in Dublin in conjunction with the company’s decision to establish a global supply chain facility in Ireland.
Alexion has begun the process of recruiting approximately 50 employees by year-end for a range of initial positions in its supply chain, quality assurance, quality control and logistics functions by year-end.
Alexion’s new, additional global supply chain and quality staff in Ireland are expected to begin supplying Soliris® (eculizumab) to patients with PNH and aHUS, two severe and life-threatening ultra-rare disorders, by the end of 2013. The company’s expanding Irish workforce will also manage the supply of additional Alexion medicines to patients following regulatory approvals for a series of anticipated launches of new therapies over the next several years.
“Ireland’s government and universities have an unparalleled commitment and robust partnerships with regard to education and training for pharmaceutical manufacturing, quality assurance, quality control and supply logistics. For these reasons, as we continue to expand our global supply chain and quality team, we are very pleased to come to Ireland for its highly skilled and educated workforce,” said Stephen Squinto, PhD, executive vice president and chief global operations officer at Alexion. “We look forward to the role that our new colleagues in Ireland will play in helping us to provide life-transforming medicines like Soliris to more patients in more countries worldwide.”
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and delivery of therapies for severe and life-threatening diseases that are also ultra-rare. The addition of employees in Ireland is part of the on-going expansion in the company’s global organisation.
Minister Bruton said: “Sustaining and building on our strong track record in pharmaceuticals is a key objective of our Action Plan for Jobs, and the past two years we have seen some major jobs wins in this sector. Today’s announcement that Alexion is establishing a new operation in Dublin with the creation of 50 jobs is another significant jobs boost for the sector, and I wish all involved every success with their operations here. I am determined that, through continued strong implementation of our plan, we can see further jobs wins in this sector to help create the jobs we need.”
