The site serves as a global manufacturing center of excellence for Abbott’s Diabetes Care business. The company expects it to employ more than 800 people. Abbott announced its plans for the €440 million investment in Ireland in August 2022, then broke ground on the facility in April 2023.
Abbott’s significant investment in Ireland over the past couple of years includes an expansion of its Donegal site as well. That expansion should create another 200 jobs.
An Taoiseach, Simon Harris, TD, and Abbott Chair and CEO Robert Ford, attended the opening ceremony.
“Abbott, which has been in Ireland since 1946, is one of the longest-established global companies and largest employers in our country. This latest investment is a further vote of confidence in Ireland as a location for world-class advanced manufacturing and healthcare businesses. With the opening of this new site, Ireland is now at the global centre of diabetes care,” Harris said.
(Read more about the medtech industry’s investment in Ireland over the years HERE.)
More about the new Abbott facility in Ireland
The 30,000-square-meter Kilkenny facility produces FreeStyle Libre 3 sensors to support Abbott’s continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) portfolio. Powered by six air-to-water heat pumps, the fully electric site features nearly 600 solar panels on the roof. It also has tanks for collecting rainwater to use onsite.
Abbott also said, to demonstrate its commitment to Ireland, it provided a new $100,000 grant to The Ireland Funds. This will fund three 2024 Leaving Certificate graduates, enabling them to take up third-level education. The effort aligns with Abbott’s drive to support more young people into STEM careers.
“This is our latest commitment to providing innovative care and supporting people with diabetes to live healthier lives,” said Ford. “The state-of the-art Kilkenny facility will have the highest production of Libre sensors in the world to help meet the growing global demand for our world-leading FreeStyle Libre portfolio.”
Outside Ireland, Abbott also plans to expand manufacturing capacity across Europe with a further £85 million investment in its Witney facility in Oxfordshire, UK.
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