Local residents have voiced concern about plans for an estimated €2 billion expansion of its Irish operations by a leading pharmaceutical firm seeking to increase production of its best-selling weight loss and diabetes medicines.
Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk is seeking planning permission from South Dublin County Council for a large new filling and packaging facility at Grange Castle Business Park West in Clondalkin in an effort to meet soaring demand for its respective diabetes and weight-loss injections Ozempic and Wegovy.
The company has claimed that the proposed manufacturing campus for a new generation of life-saving medicines, which would extend to over 147,000m², will create up to 1,100 new permanent jobs, including 600 in production and 500 in administration.
Novo Nordisk has also stated that up to 2,000 workers will be employed during the construction phase.
The plans provide for three filling units, two assembly and packaging buildings, a warehouse, a five-story administration building, and a laboratory as well as stores and a car park with 551 spaces.
Novo Nordisk said it plans to create up to 16 assembly and packaging lines with storage facilities for 24,000 pallets.
Novo Nordisk is reported to have paid €51 million last summer to South Dublin County Council to acquire the 85-acre site, which is close to Peamount Hospital and the Newcastle Golf Centre.
However, two local families living in Newcastle have filed submissions with the local authority to express concern about the scale of the project and its impact on their quality of life, their property, and the surrounding area.
They cited worries about noise, odours, air pollution, and overlooking as well as fears that the development will result in a decrease in the value of their homes.
“These concerns are at both construction stage and during the proposed plant's operational phase,” they added.
The families claimed they would also experience a “reduced quality of scenery” from the lands changing from their current status as “green fields.”
Novo Nordisk has stated it is looking into expanding its manufacturing capacity in Europe, with Ireland as one of the locations under consideration.
It said its proposed plant in Grange Castle would “provide new innovative medicines for diabetes and other serious chronic diseases such as obesity and rare blood and rare endocrine diseases.”
Last year, the Danish firm overtook French luxury goods group, LVMH, as the most valuable public company in Europe on the back of growing sales for the so-called “skinny jabs” Ozempic and Wegovy.
If approved, Novo Nordisk believed the new plant could be fully operational by 2027 given the estimated construction time phase of approximately 27 months followed by the validation of the process and automation systems as well as clean rooms which is expected to take a further nine months.
It claims the proposed development is “a thoroughly considered proposal targeting zero admissions which is in full compliance with local and regional planning policies.
Consultants for Novo Nordisk said the planned facility was designed to accommodate two of its medicines and products.
The company bought the former Elan drug manufacturing plant in Athlone from Irish firm Alkermes for €84.2 million in December 2023.
It operates in 80 countries around the world with a global staff of 59,000, including around 50 at a marketing facility in Santry.
A ruling on the planning application is due from South Dublin County Council before the end of February, although any decision may face an appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
By Seán McCárthaigh
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