Sale of old Wyeth factory is 'beacon of hope' for Limerick
Pharmaceutical firm Pfanstiehl purchases site near Askeaton
THE sale of the former Wyeth manufacturing site to a pharmaceutical firm is a “beacon of hope” for West Limerick and gives the people of Askeaton “a future”.
There’s been a huge welcome after the news that, just a few months after the final workers clocked out for the last time at Wyeth, the vast site has new owners, with American company Pfanstiehl planning a major investment.
Some 542 jobs were lost following Wyeth parent company Nestle’s shock announcement in 2023 that it was closing down its plant in Askeaton due to a slowdown in demand for infant formula.
It’s unclear how many jobs Pfanstiehl plan to create in Askeaton, with a spokesperson for the company saying it’s “delighted” to extend its operations to the Mid-West.
"At this early stage, no further detail on our plans for the site are available,” it added in a statement to the Leader.
Founded at Illinois in the USA, Pfanstiehl is a speciality pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer, producing specialist pharmaceutical ingredients used in the manufacture of vaccines, gene and cell therapies and other injectable medicines.
They are used in medicines to tackle diseases including cancer, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
The company does not disclose workforce numbers, but it’s understood to employ people in the low hundreds, with its bases being its head office in the USA, plus Switzerland and Singapore.
Its specialised workforce includes chemical engineers, process engineers, microbiologists, and manufacturing operators.
A sale price for the site was not disclosed, but it was on the market for €22m last year.
Pfanstiehl will join a number of major life sciences companies in Limerick, notably Regeneron and Eli Lilly in Raheen, and BD and Johnson & Johnson in Castletroy.
It’s a future for the grandchildren of the original workers at Wyeth,” said Carmel Ryan, Askeaton Civic Trust, who greeted the announcement with “surprise and delight".
“We were hoping it wouldn’t become a rust-bucket, and with all the focus on Alcan at the moment, all we could see was a second rust-bucket,” she added.
Alcan was the original owner of Aughinish Alumina, which many people in west Limerick still refer to by that name. The refinery has been in the spotlight over concerns that alumina from the plant could end up in the Russian military supply chain, raising fears over the future of the 470 jobs at the site.
"I have two grandsons in their early 20s, and there is now a choice to be made. They may not have to emigrate. They may be able to change direction. There’s lots of things it will mean to people,” Ms Ryan added.
Leader of the district Askeaton is in, Cllr Adam Teskey added: “This offers a new beacon of hope for the greater West Limerick region in the uncertain times we are in, and it’s great to see this level of investment being afforded to our area, and something which is most welcome.”
He hopes this will spark more investment in the area, pointing to a public land bank in Askeaton idle more than 30 years.
Pfanstiehl was founded by Carl Pfanstiehl as the Special Chemicals Corporation in 1919.
It initially operated from a stable behind his home with financial backing from the US government following the First World War.
Today, its main products are purified sugars, amino acids and buffer salts.