US MEDICAL DEVICES company Surmodics is to create 100 jobs in Galway.
The company took over Creagh Medical in Ballinasloe last year, where 32 people are already employed.
The 100 new jobs will be created over the next five years.
Surmodics will invest €9.5 million in research and development, and spend €7 million upgrading the facility.
The company, which has its headquarters in Minnesota, manufactures medical devices and in vitro diagnostics that can detect diseases or infections.
The news is seen as a major boost for the town.
Communications Minister Denis Naughten said:
The creation of 100 jobs in Ballinasloe is the equivalent of 1,000 jobs for Galway city.
“What is far more significant is the fact that these jobs are in the medical device sector which allows the town of Ballinasloe to attract additional investment from the two existing medical device hubs in Athlone and Galway.”
Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor is expected to attend the announcement at the IDA Business Park in Ballinasloe today.
Dungarvan
Meanwhile, biopharmaceutical firm Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories has announced plans to expand its campus in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford and increase its workforce to more than 500 by 2021.
Some 160 jobs will be created over the next five years. The company has brought 175 jobs into the area in the past two years.
CEO of IDA Ireland, Martin Shanahan, said: “This investment demonstrates Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories’ commitment to Dungarvan, and the large cluster of biopharma companies based in Ireland.”
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