Charles River Laboratories To Expand Facilities In Ballina

Charles River Laboratories International has announced plans for an €8 million expansion of its testing capabilities at its Ballina, Mayo.

The plans will give an additional 1,500m2 of lab space and create up to 90 new skilled roles over the next three years.

Charles River Laboratories and AstraZeneca have maintained a strategic partnership since 2012, providing AstraZeneca with outsourced regulated safety and development support on a range of treatments and vaccines, including testing and facilitating the deployment of the vaccines Vaxzevria for COVID-19 and Fluenz for seasonal infleunza.

The project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD welcomed the announcement, said: "I'm really pleased that Ballina will play such an important role in the production of COVID-19 vaccines, which have saved millions of lives around the world. Charles River looks forward to continuing its ongoing partnership with AstraZeneca. It was great to join the team today, to see the facility for myself and congratulate them on this really significant expansion, which will see an €8m investment, creating 90 new jobs for Mayo. Ireland is globally recognised as a hub for the Life Sciences sector and this news is a real vote of confidence in us and our capacity."


The announcement follows earlier expansions at the Ballina site where additional Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facilities and capabilities have been added in analytical, cell culture, vaccine support and other specialised Biologics services. The Company most recently announced plans to establish a dedicated laboratory space with Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) containment to handle testing of SARS-CoV-2 (the viral strain causing COVID-19) and other similar pathogens that cause human disease. This further investment in enhanced facilities and continuous staff development provides the increased range of testing services required by the international biopharmaceutical industry.