APC Microbiome has announced 50 new jobs in Cork.
The institute is launching the national centre of excellence for food and medicine research at University College Cork.
Recruitment begins today for the hi-tech jobs - with plans for additional positions later in the year.
The new venture will be officially launched by the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney this morning.
Head of the Institute at UCC is Fergus Shanahan, who said the company explores how microbes interact with the environment around them, and how that could be used for medical purposes.
"This is not just the first piece of good news - we anticipate there will probably be an additional 30-50 [jobs] towards the end of the year [when] we'll be recruiting again," he said.
"These are high-tech jobs, generally for people with basic degrees in the sciences … biochemistry, microbiology, [and] immunology."
Later this morning, a "significant jobs announcement" is expected to be made in Dublin by consulting firm Deloitte.