150 jobs are to go at Pfizer in Newbridge in Co Kildare.
The pharma giant which employs 700 at the Newbridge facility made the announcement to staff at a meeting this morning.
The jobs will go next year. In a statement the company says it was forced to make the redundancies because of patent expiration - and competition from generic drugs.
Its also to close its packaging operations at the facility in 2015.
Pfizer says it will continue to invest in specialised product technologies and will transfer production of some such products into Newbridge over the next few years.
A consultation process with staff will now get underway.
The company stressed no other sites in Ireland are affected by this announcement.
Dr Paul Duffy, Vice President, Pfizer said: “The impact of patent expiration of a number of Pfizer’s key medicines and increased generic competition has resulted in a reduction in manufacturing volumes and an excess of manufacturing capacity globally, and in Ireland specifically.
This means that we must rescale our operations to better align with the future needs of our business and also to achieve greater competitiveness. Ireland remains a key strategic location for Pfizer with many of our leading and newest medicines manufactured here and the company continues to make investments in the Irish operations.”
Newbridge produces some 3 billion tablets and capsules and 55 million packs annually.
The site opened in 1992, and currently employs 670 staff, exporting to more than 100 markets in the EU, Asia Pacific, USA , Latin America, Africa and middle East
Overall the company employs more than 3,200 people in Ireland
