Deputy Michael Lowry has welcomed the announcement by global healthcare company Abbott of substantial further investment in its cardiovascular Research and Development Centre based at its Vascular devices site in Clonmel.
In an announcement today, the Company has confirmed that over the next three years, Abbott will invest €37.8 million in an R&D programme focusing on the discovery, innovation and development of a number of projects, including next generation drug eluting stents, as well as coronary and endovascular balloon technologies.
The continued major investment programme in its R&D centre in Clonmel, supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland, comes as Abbott celebrates 75 years in Ireland this year.
Abbott is the world leader in drug-eluting stents. Both R&D and manufacturing of Abbott’s new vascular technologies to treat complex heart disease take place at its Clonmel site.
Over 90,000 Irish people have heart disease and it is one of the most common causes of hospitalisation in people aged over 65 in Ireland.
The Irish R&D team spent three years developing the company’s market-leading stent, XIENCE Sierra, which is being used worldwide in patients who, because of the nature of their disease, might not previously have been suitable for minimally invasive surgery. Abbott’s manufacturing plant in Clonmel manufactures its XIENCE family of stents, including XIENCE Sierra, for global use.
Abbott was one of the first US companies to establish operations in Ireland and is one of our largest med-tech employers, with six manufacturing sites and three corporate services operations throughout the country. This announcement reflects Abbott’s ongoing commitment to Ireland. It is also a tribute to the management and staff of Abbott’s vascular division in Clonmel, who have played a pivotal role in the global success of Abbott’s XIENCE Sierra stent.
‘This major investment by Abbot is a significant boost for Clonmel and for Tipperary as it underlines their ongoing commitment to the county into the future’ says Deputy Lowry.
