Ireland-based drugmaker Shire has announced an investment of $400 million to expand its global biotechnology manufacturing capacity in County Meath over the next four years. The company said the expansion will meet “rapidly growing demand” for rare disease treatments. At the heart of the project will be a new, state-of-the art biologics manufacturing campus on a 120-acre site at Piercetown, where around 400 permanent highly skilled, full time jobs are expected to be created in the areas of R&D, operations, technical staff, engineering and construction.

Construction activity will begin in mid-2016 with the site expected to be operational by mid-2019. Leveraging the latest bioprocessing techniques, Shire said the operation will employ flexible production strategies, enabling it to supply both clinical and commercial scale products.

“Increasing our biologics manufacturing capability is fundamental to achieving our ambition of becoming the world’s leading biotechnology company focused on rare diseases and other specialty conditions,” said CEO Flemming Ornskov.

He said the expansion, “will enable us to meet increasing product demands, support our pipeline and, ultimately, help more patients.” The new campus in County Meath “will provide necessary geographic diversification and will help us serve our growing international business,” Ornskovadded.

Irish Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, said the scale of the global investment being made by Shire and the creation of 400 full-time positions in Ireland, as well as over 700 additional jobs during construction, will have a major impact, further validating Ireland’s position as a leading global location for biotechnology manufacturing and R&D.

Founded in 1986 in the UK, Shire conducts most of its business in the US but has been domiciled in Ireland for tax purposes since 2008.