The jobs are part of a 10-year expansion plan and will be across R&D, manufacturing, science and engineering.
Aerogen, Ireland’s largest indigenous medtech company, is set to create more than 700 jobs over the next decade.
The new jobs are part of a €300m expansion supported by Enterprise Ireland. This expansion will enable Aerogen to accelerate its existing device technology and build out its emerging biopharmaceutics business, which is focused on treating premature newborns with infant respiratory stress syndrome.
Headquartered in Galway, the medtech company specialises in acute care aerosol drug delivery. Its product, the Aerogen Solo, is based on vibrating mesh technology and used for respiratory patient care in various hospital settings, from the emergency department to intensive care. In 2022, the company partnered with a Chinese pharma company to develop an inhaled Covid-19 vaccine.
The fresh investment will create 725 jobs between its two manufacturing sites in Galway and Shannon. The roles will be across R&D, manufacturing, science and engineering and will bring the company’s global workforce to more than 2,000 with more than half based in Ireland.
John Power, CEO and founder of Aerogen, said the expansion announcement comes at a time when the company has treated its 25 millionth patient. “We will continue to innovate across the respiratory journey for patients from our HQ here in Galway.”
Leo Clancy, CEO of Enterprise Ireland said companies such as Aerogen embody Enterprise Ireland’s vision that Irish-owned, globally focused companies “will be the primary driver of our economy”.
“Aerogen has the potential and ambition to achieve billions in revenue, joining the ranks of industry-leading Irish multinationals,” he said.
Record jobs at Enterprise Ireland companies
The announcement comes on the same day as the release of Enterprise Ireland’s annual end of year results for 2024, which showed that total employment at companies supported by the agency increased to a record 234,454 last year, with 15,741 new jobs created.
Of the new jobs created, almost two-thirds (64pc) were located outside the Dublin region with all nine regions recording jobs growth. Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke, TD, said it’s “hugely positive” to see companies recording job growth four years in a row.
“2024 was a challenging year for some sectors of exporting Irish businesses with high interest rates and international instability impacting business performance, so to record significant employment growth is even more impressive,” he said.
“Today’s announcement that Aerogen will implement an ambitious scaling plan, creating high-quality jobs here in the west of Ireland is very welcome and demonstrates the continued success of Irish companies’ performance in export markets.”
In particular, there was strong employment growth in the areas of climate, sustainability and agritech with 8pc growth and the life sciences sector with 7pc growth. Digital technology also saw an increase of 2pc.
This marks the final year of the agency’s three-year strategy and Clancy, who is stepping down from his position in March of this year, said the agency’s client companies overachieved on key targets to create 45,000 new jobs by 2024 and increase exports to €30bn.
“Over the three-year period, Enterprise Ireland client companies created 50,931 new jobs and at the end of 2023 over €34bn in exports was recorded,” he said.
“The results announced today give us a really strong platform on which to further grow and expand our enterprise base in a sustainable way over the next five years.”
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