West Pharmaceutical Services, a provider of solutions for injectable drug administration, has completed a nearly 5,600 m2- expansion at its contract manufacturing facility near Mulhuddart, County Dublin, Ireland. The company said the expansion is in response to customer demand for medical device manufacturing—especially in the area of diabetes.

The facility is the Pennsylvania, USA-based company’s most recent investment in Ireland, where itis also building a new pharmaceutical component manufacturing facility at Waterford. Current plans call for the West contract manufacturing business, formerly known as The Tech Group, to be aligned under the West brand, a move said to reflects the significance of contract manufacturing in its long-term strategy as a leader in integrated packaging and delivery for injectable medicines.

With the additional capacity in Dublin, the company said it will be better able to service its company's growing healthcare and medical device contract manufacturing business, which is focused on supplying high-end molding and assembly solutions for production of medical devices such as auto-injectors and continuous glucose monitoring systems. It expects to add 100 new jobs to the business over the next five years.

West is also investing in its proprietary products business in Waterford. The company previously announced the construction of a center of excellence for its elastomer sheeting and injectable component product lines, such as insulin pens. Full commercial operations are set to begin in 2018. Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland, the agency responsible for the attraction and development of foreign direct investment in the country, said West is a good example of the potential for convergence across the life sciences sector.

“Ireland has seen hundreds of millions invested in recent years in the development and manufacturing of new injectable drugs for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease and cancer. The patients who will benefit from these exciting new drugs will also benefit from West's innovation in drug delivery devices,” he said.