A US HEALTH care company has officially opened a new €85 million research facility in Sligo.

AbbVie will use the new Manorhamilton site to expand its manufacturing capacity for products in the areas of liver disease, oncology, and women’s health.

The site will support a total of 175 jobs, with roughly 75 of these still to be filled.

The jobs are in the areas of engineering, quality, pharmaceutical science, and other science-based areas.

Speaking at the officially opening of the plant today, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said:

AbbVie has had a long and deep relationship with Ireland and today’s opening of their new €85 million extension to the Manorhamilton site furthers Ireland’s reputation as a leading location for investment for the life sciences sector.

Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, Senior Vice President of Operations at AbbVie, said the plant could play a role in the company’s development a new regime for treating patients who have a form of the hepatitis C virus infection.

AbbVie currently employs 400 people in Ireland, and 25,000 in total worldwide.

Read: Venture capitalists set up in Dublin to provide €172 million to Life Sciences sector >

More: There are now almost 50,000 more full-time jobs than last year, many of them in agriculture >

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