The US firm – which makes precision plastic components for respiratory and injectable delivery devices – said the investment will create jobs for automation engineers, quality engineers, operations managers, program managers, team leaders and operators.
James O’ Gorman, Vice President, Drug Delivery and Diagnostics of Nypro Healthcare said: “We now plan to create over 200 positions in Waterford to manufacture complex respiratory and injection devices for our pharmaceutical customers worldwide.”
Nypro will spend €60m ($77m) on the new plant and will also receive support from the Irish Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD said: "I welcome the decision by Nypro to establish a new medical device manufacturing facility in Waterford with the creation of over 200 highly skilled jobs as it is a significant boon for the whole South East.
Kenny added that: “The recent experience of Nypro - reinvention and refocusing on growing sectors, resonates with the wider Irish economy.”
Other observers were less enthusiastic.
National media outlet RTE, for example, welcomed the investment but reminded readers that previous Nypro promises of job creation have fallen short, citing a 2001 investment that created just 250 of the expected 400 positions as a basis for caution.
Takeover delay
News of Nypro’s investment plan comes shortly after Jabil Circuit – an electronic components manufacturing company that launched a takeover bid for the plastics specialist in February – said the deal will take longer to complete than anticipated.
The Florida, US-based contractor told Plastics News the deal is taking longer than expected “because regulatory approval is still needed from several countries, including China, Russia and Hungary.”