Heart drug to boost jobs at Pfizer plant
A heart drug which will be used in tests on 25,000 people worldwide has gone into production at a Cork pharmaceutical plant.
The $900m (€743m) investment in testing the new cholesterol treatment drug Torcetrapib is good news for Pfizer workers at Loughbeg, Ringakskiddy — it will lead to the creation of 40 extra jobs.
Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin today threw the switch to begin the production of the first batch of the drug.
The new compound, combined with Pfizer’s best selling Lipitor drug, used to treat ‘bad’ cholesterol, had the potential to benefit millions of lives around the world, Dr John L LaMattina, president of Pfizer Global Research and Development, said.
“This is great news for Cork,” Minister Martin told the Evening Echo, adding that the location of Pfizer, the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world, in Cork was a huge boost for the region.
