Millicent Pharma has announced a multimillion pound investment in its Larne manufacturing facility, adding automation and productivity improvements and more than 20 jobs, giving women’s health and pharma manufacturers a live example of capital being directed at automation to meet growing product demand.

The expansion will lift the Larne workforce from 50 to 70, with recruitment for technicians, managers, supervisors, engineers and quality assurance specialists; capital investment has already begun and will continue over the next few years, with roles advertised in early October.

Millicent Pharma, established in 2018 and backed by Carlyle Group, develops, manufactures and sells branded women’s health therapies including contraception and hormone replacement therapy; its Larne site, of more than 50,000 sq ft, is both a manufacturing base for rings and precision hormonal dose forms and an R&D centre of excellence.

The group also operates a manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico, with corporate offices in Dundalk, Ireland and New Jersey, US, and has previously received support from Invest Northern Ireland.

Ryan Loughlin, senior vice-president of Millicent Pharma, said: “Our future and Larne’s future are closely linked.” He said the announcement shows commitment to production capability and job creation after seven years in the local economy, and that the company supports the Larne Community Wealth Building Partnership so that skills, jobs and opportunities are shared across the locality. Ken Nelson, chief executive of the local enterprise agency, said the company’s growth plans will create attractive new employment and skills opportunities.

The investment reflects specialty pharma manufacturers using automation to raise output per head at established sites alongside new hiring, as demand for branded women’s health products grows.

The timing tracks a fast-growing category, with the UK women’s healthcare market forecast to grow from $4.6bn in 2026 to $13.9bn by 2035, contraceptive products holding the largest share.

For the sector, the Larne industrial park already hosts Terumo and Teva, showing how pharma manufacturers are clustering at established Northern Ireland sites.

The wider signal for the sector is that private equity-backed specialty pharma groups are placing automation investment in Northern Ireland, with local enterprise bodies tying growth to community skills programmes.

Source: Love Belfast / The Irish News / Dimension Market Research