Wyeth has formally opened its Grange Castle biotech production facility in South County Dublin, Ireland. The new 1.2 million square foot campus is one of the largest integrated biotech manufacturing facilities in the world and is expected to produce some of the company's most innovative products.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals President Bernard Poussot said the company is proud of the biotech manufacturing facility it has built in Ireland and expects that it will expand access to our key biotech products, which are in high demand from patients throughout the world.

Poussot stated, "We expect to continue to invest in this new state-of-the-art facility and to make Grange Castle one of our key biotech development, production and distribution efforts in the coming years, complementing our US presence in Andover, Mass."

According to a company release, biotech drugs are a rapidly growing segment of Wyeth's more than $17.4 billion business and include such innovative products as Enbrel (etanercept), ReFacto Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), BeneFix Coagulation Factor IX (Recombinant) and Prevenar 7-valent pneumococcal vaccine for children.

Wyeth invested nearly $2 billion in the Grange Castle facility, where site development work began in October 2002.