In Ireland, Glaxo goes,Amgen stops

GlaxoSmithKline will invest $335 million in its production site at Currabinny, County Cork, Ireland, over the next five years. The project, expected to create 150 "high-level positions," will support manufacturing of the active ingredient for GSK's new breast cancer treatment, Tykerb. The Cork site, established in 1975, currently employs about 600 people. Meanwhile, development of Amgen's $1 billion biopharmaceutical plant in Cork will be delayed for two years, a decision the company reached after a review of its global manufacturing operations. Amgen earlier stated that the facility, which had been scheduled to begin opening in 2010, would house 1,100 employees. The mixed news for Ireland comes just two months after Pfizer announced it will cut its pharmaceutical chemical operations in the country by 40% over two years.