Pfizer invests $300 mln in Irish biotech facility

LONDON (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), the world's biggest drugmaker, is to invest 190 million euros ($297 million) establishing a new biotech plant in Ireland for the production of experimental medicines, it said on Friday.

The facility, which will create around 100 permanent jobs over three years, will develop and produce small-scale quantities of products for Phase II and III clinical trials. Some 500 people will also be employed during construction.

It is the first time that Pfizer has placed such internal biopharmaceutical clinical development outside the United States.

The facility at Shanbally in County Cork will be located on a site adjacent to Pfizer's existing operation in Ringaskiddy and will be completed by the end of 2009.

Nat Ricciardi of Pfizer Global Manufacturing said the investment reflected the U.S. group's determination to become a leader in biotech medicine, which is a growing focus for many drug companies worldwide.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Erica Billingham)