Ppd announces athlone expansion

 Athlone-based multi-national PPD has announced an expansion of its operations in Athlone, with the addition of a new laboratory, with an as-yet unspecified jobs boost.

The company said by adding these services to its Athlone operation, it is able to provide clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific with same services already available in the US through its Wisconsin lab.

The new laboratory provides good manufacturing practices (GMP) bioassay testing with dedicated areas to support cell culture activities with multiple assay endpoint expertise.

PPD opened its Athlone laboratory in 2010 and, once the expansion is complete, it will employ nearly 150 people at the facility, including Ph.D.-level scientists, analytical laboratory staff and other clinical development professionals.

“The expansion of our GMP laboratory represents PPD’s ongoing investment toward continued growth of our operations in Ireland in order to offer enhanced service capabilities to our growing client base in this region and throughout the world,” said David Johnston, Ph.D., executive vice president of global laboratory services at PPD.

“In addition, Ireland offers a business-friendly climate, highly skilled work force through its close proximity to the Athlone Institute of Technology and strong support from the Irish Government, particularly IDA Ireland.”

“This is great news for Athlone and the Midlands,” said Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton.

“Since bringing its state-of-the-art operations to Ireland five years ago, PPD has made a major contribution to the Athlone area.

'The company’s ongoing expansion has brought a great boost to the area in the form of high-level jobs and I look forward to working closely with PPD as it continues to grow in Athlone.

'Bringing high-end jobs to the region is a key part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, and world-leading companies like PPD have a major part to play in this.”