U.S. pharma giant Gilead Sciences has received planning permission for a €45M expansion of its Carrigtwohill plant in Cork, in the latest boost to Ireland’s growing life sciences sector.

The new 55.7K SF warehouse represents a significant expansion of the facility's storage capacity and is among several locations in Dublin and Cork that will bring its total investment in Ireland close to €300M.

The new building will be used to store raw materials and finished goods and construction is expected to start in April and is projected to be complete for November 2024, the Irish Times reported.

Gilead said that its new facility will be highly sustainable and will be fitted with 764 photovoltaic solar panels capable of delivering 340 kilowatts of energy. Currently there are 1,489 PV solar panels installed on-site, and solar is expected to account for circa 10% of the total energy requirement at Carrigtwohill.

"This development will facilitate additional future investment in our manufacturing and packaging capabilities in Ireland as we look to support an expanded Gilead product portfolio in the years ahead," Gilead Sciences Vice President of Manufacturing Operations David Cadogan said.

"In addition to our expansion in Cork, our new paediatric centre of excellence in Dublin’s North Dock was the city’s first commercial office to achieve 'near zero energy building’ status", he added.

Gilead employs more than 500 people in Ireland, making it the California-headquartered company’s largest EU operation, dating back to 1999 when it acquired Nexstar, which had a manufacturing base in Carrigtwohill.

In 2018 Gilead opened a €9.5M facility at its Cork site to boost manufacture of drugs for the treatment of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis and in 2020 it invested €7M to expand its Cork and Dublin operations, including its global paediatric centre of excellence in Dublin.