Teva Pharmaceutical Announces Creation Of 165 Jobs For Waterford

The investment, supported by IDA Ireland, will create up to 165 highly skilled positions over five years.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin, T.D., welcomed the company's commitment to its Irish subsidiary, the local workforce and the pharmaceutical sector in Ireland.

"The decision to make this investment owes a great deal to the strong performance of the site to date," he said. "The expertise and commitment of the management and staff at this facility singled out IVAX as the prime location for this investment. The site's R&D team, for example, was responsible for developing new device technologies for metered dose inhalers which have been very well received by the patients in the markets it serves. The fact that IVAX Waterford is also Teva's primary respiratory global research centre is testimony to its leading role and prestigious position within the group."

Teva spokesperson Mr Jacob Winter, Group Vice President Global Generic Resources, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd said: "IVAX plays a critical role in the corporate strategy and continued success of Teva Pharmaceuticals. We face intense competition in the generic drug market from other generic drug manufacturers, brand-name drug companies through authorised generics, manufacturers of branded drugs that continue to produce those drugs after patent expirations and manufacturers of therapeutically similar drugs. However, through this investment IVAX will allow us to protect our products' leading market shares, add new capability and broaden our geographical reach and impact. We see Teva Pharmaceuticals continuing to be the leading low-cost generic drug producer, by expanding production and building economies of scale, objectives which the IVAX facility in Waterford will directly support."

Teva was founded in Jerusalem in 1901 as a small wholesale drug business. In 1964, three firms merged to become Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Israel's largest healthcare company. Today, Teva is a global pharmaceutical company specializing in the development, production and marketing of branded and generic pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. It is among the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world and one of the largest generic pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Teva's product lines include antibiotics, cardiovasculars, analgesics, gastrointestinals, fertility treatments, anticancers, central nervous system drugs, anti-inflammatory and respiratory agents. The company's Irish subsidiary which Teva acquired in January 2006, IVAX Pharmaceuticals Ireland, is the key supply site for Teva's respiratory products for global markets in two buildings. A third facility manufactures oral solid dose products to treat a range of ailments, largely for the US market. The Waterford site is also the corporation's primary global research centre for respiratory products.