Avantor, the global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the life sciences, advanced technologies and applied materials industries, has opened a new distribution centre in Dublin.
The nearly 69,000-sq-ft facility is the most advanced distribution centre in Avantor’s global network and places mission-critical products and operational support close to Avantor’s customers enhancing the security of supply.
“Avantor’s continued investment to expand our global footprint with on-site storage capacity and capabilities in Ireland strengthens our ability to provide essential products and services to the markets that need them,” said Sheri Lewis, executive vice president, global supply chain operations.
“This cutting-edge centre continues the capital investments we are making in our supply chain to meet growing global demand across all the end markets we serve.”
On-site clean rooms and batch-to-batch traceability
The new facility will offer certified Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) warehousing, on-site clean rooms, batch-to-batch traceability, custom palletisation, inbound and outbound product quality inspections and vendor managed inventory solutions.
“Avantor’s value to the biopharma industry is our ability to support customers from discovery to delivery,” said Dr Ger Brophy, executive vice president, biopharma production.
“As a leading materials provider to the growing bioproduction industry, it is vital that we are responsive to customer needs in key markets such as Ireland while also having the capacity to meet growing demand in the region. This investment reflects our commitment to the industry and our anticipation of continued growth.”
The distribution centre is Avantor’s second in Ireland, adding to its current footprint of 76,000-square-feet. The facility will also create 40 jobs, adding to the 200 associates the company currently employs in Ireland. The site is part of a global footprint that includes more than 200 manufacturing, distribution and sales centres in more than 30 countries that help ensure life-changing medicines reach patients quickly.
“Avantor traces its heritage in Ireland back to 1998,” said Michael Lohan, divisional manager life sciences and talent transformation and innovation, IDA Ireland.
“The company has played an important role in the development of Ireland’s life science ecosystem and continues to create high-quality career opportunities here in Dublin.”
Minister Dara Calleary said: “Avantor’s expansion is a strong endorsement of Ireland as a world-leading hub for the life science and medtech sectors, which is built on the strength of our talented and skilled workforce along with our access to markets and pro-enterprise policy environment. I wish the team all the very best with this new chapter.”
This most recent investment demonstrates Avantor’s commitment to strengthening its global biopharma supply chain. In October 2022, a new manufacturing and distribution hub in Singapore began initial operations.
In 2021 the company opened a new logistics hub in Westminster, Massachusetts, a single-use solutions facility in Hillegom, Netherlands, and completed major capacity expansions for critical process ingredients, excipients and single-use clean rooms in multiple sites across its network in Europe and the US.
These investments are in addition to capabilities and capacity added through the acquisitions completed in 2021 including Ritter GmbH, RIM Bio, and Masterflex.