Allergan

A shining pharma success story

“The availability of a very well educated workforce coupled with the strong ‘can-do’ attitude” - Pat O’Donnell, Vice President and Managing Director, Allergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland

Access to a skilled workforce is one of the biggest advantages of locating a major pharmaceutical multinational business in Mayo, according to Pat O’Donnell, MD of Allergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland.

The company, a subsidiary of Allergan Inc, has been based in Westport since 1977. Its 12 hectare campus is home to two plants – a sterile pharmaceutical ophthalmic plant and a newer €275m biologics plant. Between them they employ 850 people and produce close to 800 million units of product a year.

The campus also accommodates chemistry and microbiology laboratories plus R&D support activities employing over 250 highly-experienced science graduates.

The Westport site is the largest in the corporation’s plant network and employs the largest concentration of people outside of its US HQ. The Westport site supplies products that account for more than 50% of the corporation’s total revenue.

Why Mayo?

“Being a native of County Mayo and having been with Allergan since 1980 I feel very well positioned to comment of how an American company can grow very significantly from this corner of Europe,” said Pat O’Donnell.

“Central to Allergan’s success has been the cooperation of the state and local agencies to consistently support enterprise development. The availability of a very well educated workforce, coupled with the strong ‘can-do’ attitude which prevails in the county, delivers a dynamic workforce which becomes the single most important ingredient in the continued success of Allergan in Ireland.” 