Irish pharma firm Chanelle Group has announced plans to create 350 new jobs over the next five years, as it pumps €85m into expanding its operations.

The announcement was made today (September 6) at the opening of Chanelle’s new €10m manufacturing facility in Loughrea, Co. Galway.

The 30,000 sq. ft. facility will manufacture Spot On, a topical treatment used globally to protect dogs and cats against harmful parasites.

Founded in Galway in 1985, Chanelle’s specialty is generic animal pharmaceuticals, which it sells worldwide. It also sells pharmaceutical products for human use.

The company said that its next phase of construction will commence in 2019, on a 25,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility for liquid and paste medicinal products for the US market.

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Owner and MD Michael Burke said that some €55m had been invested in Chanelle Group since 2016, which helped create 175 jobs in the firm’s headquarters in Loughrea. The new jobs will bring total the company’s total workforce to more than 850 people.

“We will invest more than €45m in R&D over the next five years in our five research laboratories operating in Ireland and the Middle East,” Burke added.

“We develop 15 to 20 new products every year; this level of innovation is unheard of in many larger multinational companies.”

Chanelle Group reports that it had sales of €111m in 2017. Enterprise Ireland provided Chanelle with €580,000 in funding last year, bringing total EI funding for the pharma group to €1.7m.

Photo: Michael Burke (right) and Minister Simon Coveney (Pic: Hany Marzouk)