Jazz Pharmaceuticals celebrates tenth anniversary in Athlone

Having lost both his parents to cancer “way before their time” the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Neale Richmond, said the groundbreaking work being undertaken at the Jazz Pharmaceuticals plant in Athlone is “all about saving lives”.

Minister Richmond commended the Jazz workforce during his address at a special celebration day at the Monksland plant to commemorate 20 years since the founding of the company and its ten years of operation in Athlone. The event, which also included a tour of the recently-upgraded Athlone facility, was attended by representatives from Jazz's Executive Committee, business partners, politicians from both Roscommon and Westmeath, and invited guests from the local community.

There was much good-humoured banter as to whether Monksland was located in Athlone or across the county border in South Roscommon, which prompted Minister Richmond to fire a warning salvo during his speech that Athlone had sounded the “death knell for many a politician who was confused about county borders!”.

The banter continued when the Minister pointed to the presence of Independent TD for Roscommon/Galway, Denis Naughten and Cllr John Dolan from Westmeath and quipped that they were “representing both of their counties equitably”. In fact, the political turnout was heavily weighted in favour of Roscommon/Galway with the Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council, Cllr John Keogh; Cllr John Naughten and Senator Ashling Dolan all in attendance, while Westmeath's political strength was provided by Deputy Robert Troy and Cllr John Dolan.

Aside from the jibes about county boundaries, the vital and potentially life-saving work being undertaken at the Jazz plant was front and centre at the 10th anniversary celebrations on Monday, with senior vice-president of technical operations Liz Henderson telling the assembled guests that the Athlone facility now manufactures the majority of the US commercial supply of treatments for complex sleep disorders, and is also a leading manufacturer of cancer drugs.

Globally, the Jazz biopharmaceutical company has a proven track record in treating complex cancers, rare forms of epilepsy and serious sleep disorders, and its main focus is on developing therapies which have the potential to save lives, or to enable people to live longer and healthier lives. The global headquarters is in Dublin, and as well as the Athlone plant, it has employees around the globe and serves patients in nearly 75 countries.

“The work of Jazz is all about saving lives and giving children the chance to meet their grandparents,” was how Minister Neale Richmond summed up the commitment and dedication of the workforce employed in the Monksland plant.

Rachel Shelly, Head of Life Sciences at IDA Ireland, said the continued commitment of Jazz Pharmaceuticals to the Midlands region and the thriving biopharmaceutical sector in Ireland is “testimony to the success of their Irish operations; and the Midlands as a strategic hub for innovation and talent in the Life Science sector”.

Work on the Athlone Jazz plant began on a site in Monksland in 2014, with the official opening taking place two years later. It was the first directly-owned and operated Jazz Pharmaceuticals facility capable of developing, manufacturing and packaging drug products. This week's celebration heard that the plant has very close ties with the local community in Athlone, including a collaboration with Coosan Men's Shed, hosting school visits and STEM training days and providing employment opportunities and work experience for TUS students.

Minister Neale Richmond said there was “a life sciences cluster” in the Monksland area and said this was not by accident, but was due to a combination of factors including the strategic location of Athlone and the availability of a very well-educated local workforce.