It’s estimated that over 200 employees have been laid off at the Wasdell pharmaceutics packing factory in Dundalk, Co Louth. This comes after Wasdell’s decision to sell the facility and cease operations in the region.
Ruairí Ó Murchú, the Sinn Féin TD, mentioned that redundancy notices were given to Wasdell Group workers in two phases in the previous weeks. He anticipates the Dundalk site to shut down by 30th August. Ó Murchú also stated to RTÉ News, the first to break the story, that he is in touch with some workers affected by the lay-offs. Wasdell has been asked to comment.
A takeover approach for the Wasdell facility was submitted to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in June, by Millmount Healthcare Limited. They operate under the name of their American parent company, the PCI Pharma Services. The deal sees PCI acquiring Wasdell’s pharmaceutical packing and storage site, along with certain related assets, from Wasdell Europe Ltd, a sole subsidiary of Wasdell Holdings Limited.
However, the company that was run by Wasdell at the site isn’t part of the purchase, hence the employees weren’t acquired. The CCPC, after reviewing the takeover, deemed that it wouldn’t undermine competition, as Wasdell’s operations were winding down in the region and the company had chosen to sell off the plant.
Wasdell, a company headquartered in the UK with operations across several locations in Europe, provides all-encompassing supply chain services for pharmaceutical goods, including non-prescription drugs, generics, and nutraceuticals. Their packaging, trial, and distribution site in Mullagharlin, Dundalk, located in the IDA Dundalk Science and Technology park, was initially announced in 2017 and was projected to create 300 jobs within a span of five years. It launched operations in 2019.
The PCI Group, a contract development and manufacturing corporation operating in the pharmaceutical sector, is based in Philadelphia, USA, and has 15 global locations. Within the region, the group runs facilities in Drogheda, Co Louth, and Stamullen, Co Meath. They had obtained Meath-based Millmount back in 2017.
The main components of its business activities in Ireland include providing packaging solutions for pharmaceutical products that are ready for distribution, services for clinical trials and laboratory analysis services.