Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca has inaugurated a $360 million (€332m) active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facility at the Alexion Campus in Blanchardstown, Dublin, reinforcing its position in Ireland's life sciences manufacturing base.

Euractiv reported on the opening, which comes amid sustained pressure on pharmaceutical companies to shift manufacturing capacity to the United States.

The plant will produce small molecule APIs for late-stage development and early commercial supply, designed to serve AstraZeneca's oncology pipeline and broader medicines portfolio. Its modular design will accommodate future manufacturing modalities, including antibody drug conjugates and oligonucleotides.

The facility was developed with the backing of IDA Ireland and is expected to create approximately 100 direct, highly skilled jobs, primarily scientists and engineers, as well as additional indirect employment.

Equipped with advanced automation, artificial intelligence, and next-generation process technology, the plant is designed to reduce commercialisation lead times and costs while supporting AstraZeneca's Ambition Zero Carbon sustainability programme.

Pam Cheng, executive vice president for global operations at AstraZeneca, said: "This is an innovative and unique asset in our global operations network that will play a key role in the development and launch of our new medicines across our oncology portfolio and beyond."

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the investment was a significant vote of confidence in Ireland's life sciences ecosystem and in the highly skilled people who work across the sector.

Michael Lohan, chief executive of IDA Ireland, said the facility underlines Ireland's strength in advanced manufacturing, innovation and talent, and would strengthen the resilience of global supply chains.

The new plant consolidates AstraZeneca's presence at the Alexion Campus, which the company acquired as part of its $39 billion (€36bn) purchase of rare disease specialist Alexion Pharmaceuticals in 2021.

Explore the full details of AstraZeneca's Dublin facility opening here.