Sligo offers Phibro perfect location for laying EU roots
PHIBRO develops, manufactures and markets a broad line of animal health and nutrition products for poultry, swine, cattle, dairy and aquaculture customers around the globe.
The company had $764 million in annual sales in over 65 countries during its most recent fiscal year and employs over 1,400 people globally. Phibro is a publicly traded company headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States.
The Sligo plant will be the company’s first biological manufacturing location in Europe and will allow Phibro to expand its presence in Europe.
The new manufacturing facility will initially focus on producing Phibro’s innovative line of vaccines for the treatment of a range of poultry diseases for sales globally. In the future, Phibro expects to expand production to include vaccines for livestock and aquaculture.
Jack Bendheim, Chairman, President and CEO of Phibro said: “Over the past decade, Phibro has worked hard to meet its goal of becoming a leading player on the global animal vaccine market. Today’s event is the next step in that process. Since 2009, Phibro has made 3 acquisitions in the biological space, along with multiple licensing deals for vaccine technologies. From a geographic perspective, over the same period, Phibro has been successful, in creating a strong presence for its vaccines in the US, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.”
The EU was a market that Phibro had not managed to tap into, and when the opportunity arose, Sligo appeared to be the perfect place.
Mr. Bendheim said: “There was still one remaining widening market that we didn’t get to reach, the EU. Today, Phibro has firmly decided on its path forward to becoming a leading player in the EU animal health vaccine market, and that path starts here.
“The decision to select Sligo was based on two key questions that I posed: 1. Does the Sligo area offer great talent, and 2. Will the local and national government authority be supportive of our efforts?
“It did not take long for my team to come back with positive answers to both of my questions. It is clear to see the potential of highly skilled employees coming out of institutes such as IT Sligo and advanced training centres.
“With such an available tal- ent pool it’s no mystery why global pharma leaders like Abbot and Abbvie have decided to lay such strong roots in the area.
“Phibro has spent a lot of time and effort in creating opportunities in many countries, but rarely have we encountered the level of support, encouragement and thoroughness that we have experienced through our work with the IDA and the various government offices we have dealt with.”