Aker Kvaerner picks Ireland
20 Oct 2004
Aker Kvaerner's pharmaceuticals business is to build an engineering centre in Cork, at the centre of Ireland's drugs industry.
Set to open in 2007, the centre will eventually employ 85 people.The centre will support AK Pharmaceuticals' operations across Europe, the company says, housing data storage and processing, software development and training facilities, among others.
'This move to Ireland is an extremely positive one for AK Pharmaceuticals,' comments the division's president, Mark Leggett. 'It has come about from working with and listening to the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, many of whom have operations based in this area.'
Aker Kvaerner's neighbours at the centre, in Cork Airport Business Park, include one of its most important clients, Pfizer. Other major customers, such as GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer, Roche and Bristol-Myers Squibb, also operate near Cork.
The Irish minister for enterprise, trade and employment, Micheál Martin, believes that the centre will help to attract more investment. 'The presence of [AK Pharma] in Ireland will add to the pool of expertise that already exists here,' he says.
