Cara Partners, a bulk pharmaceutical manufacturer, has announced a €130m investment into its Little Island facility in Cork and an expansion of its workforce.
The company – a member of the Germany-based Schwabe Group – expects to create 60 new highly skilled jobs over the next four years through this major investment, which is being supported by IDA Ireland.
Recruitment for the new roles is expected to begin “shortly” and will include management, production and IT jobs, according to IDA.
Cara Partners has had a presence in east Cork since 1978. The company extracts Ginkgo Biloba, an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) that is used in different products. Cara said the new investment will be used to produce 15 additional API products at the Little Island facility and modernise the production of an existing product.
“Cara Partners has been part of the Schwabe Group for more than 40 years and is an expert in the extraction of API from natural herbal material,” said Schwabe Group COO Dr Frank Waimer. “Following this investment, Cara Partners will be the global centre of excellence within the Schwabe Group and worldwide.”
Ireland’s nominee for European Commissioner Michael McGrath, TD, recently visited the Little Island facility to celebrate the planned expansion.
“This is another welcome endorsement for Cork and indeed the wider south-west region as a prime location for companies like Cara Partners,” McGrath said. “I want to congratulate all involved in this exciting expansion.”
Several large companies have been expanding their operations in Cork recently. In July, Motorola Solutions opened a R&D centre in Cork and said it would create 200 highly skilled jobs as a result. In February, Infineon Technologies revealed plans to significantly expand its R&D presence in Ireland with the creation of more than 100 engineering jobs across Cork and Dublin.
