Leading CDMO Companies in Ireland: Your Complete Guide to Contract Manufacturing in 2026

Hovione is a globally recognized independent CDMO and the world leader in spray drying for pharmaceutical applications - a technology critical for inhalable therapies and oral drugs with low bioavailability. Founded in Lisbon in 1959 and now operating across four continents, Hovione's Cork facility is housed at the former Pfizer Lipitor API plant in Ringaskiddy, acquired by Hovione in 2008.

The site specializes in integrated API synthesis, particle design, and pharmaceutical formulation development and manufacturing. The facility runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with quality control laboratories providing continuous analytical support. In recent years Hovione has made multi-million-euro investments to nearly double its spray drying capacity in Cork, reinforcing the site as its European centre of excellence for spray drying. A new Process R&D group expansion was completed in 2024, alongside a highly potent small-scale equipment suite to support clinical and registration campaigns.

The Ringaskiddy site handles APIs up to OEB 4 potency class and supports organic solvents. The spray drying platform is supplied by Büchi and GEA, enabling production of both amorphous solid dispersions for oral drugs and dry powders for inhalation.

Thermo Fisher Scientific's Cork site - operating under the Patheon CDMO brand - is one of Ireland's largest and most technically sophisticated API contract development and manufacturing facilities. The site was acquired from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 2019 for approximately €90 million, and since that transfer, the plant has increased its manufacturing capacity fivefold, now servicing over 20 global pharmaceutical customers.

Located in Ringaskiddy, County Cork, the facility employs over 500 highly skilled chemists, engineers, analysts, and manufacturing operators. A sister analytical and laboratory services site in Athlone employs a further 400. The site has a 45-year manufacturing heritage, originally supplying GSK's global API portfolio and now supporting a broad range of innovative therapies.

The site specializes in complex small molecule APIs, with a particular focus on treatments for childhood cancer, Parkinson's disease, and depression - compounds requiring exacting chemistry control and multi-step synthetic routes. Thermo Fisher Cork supports customers from early-phase process development through commercial API supply, while the Athlone facility provides stability testing and method development services.

EirGen Pharma is one of Ireland's most impressive home-grown pharmaceutical success stories. Founded in Waterford in 2005, the company has built a two-decade track record as a global leader in developing and manufacturing high-potency oral solid dose (OSD) medicines, specializing in oncology treatments, rare diseases, and cytotoxic applications for both human and veterinary use.

EirGen's Waterford campus spans 40,000 square feet of dedicated GMP manufacturing space. A major expansion is underway - a 3,500 m² high-containment manufacturing facility is scheduled to be fully operational by late 2025, designed to accommodate accelerated technology transfers and the next generation of high-potency cancer therapies.

EirGen currently produces 520 million dosage units annually, serving more than 120 pharmaceutical partners across 60 countries. By 2027, the expanded Waterford site will deliver up to 1 billion dosage units per year - a near-doubling of output driven by global demand for their specialized oncology manufacturing expertise. The portfolio spans softgel capsules, film-coated tablets, and powder or liquid-filled hard-shell capsules, all manufactured under stringent high-potency containment protocols.

The Aenova Group's Killorglin facility - operated as Temmler Ireland Ltd. - is one of Europe's most experienced oral solid dose contract manufacturing sites, with almost 50 years of continuous pharmaceutical operation in County Kerry. Aenova is a leading pan-European CDMO and has designated Killorglin as its Competence Center for spray drying and modified release pellets - two of the most technically demanding areas in oral drug formulation.

In early 2025, Aenova launched a significant new spray drying platform at Killorglin, equipped by Büchi and GEA, to produce amorphous solid dispersions (ASD) for oral medicines with challenging bioavailability profiles and inhalation powders. This investment addresses one of the most critical needs in modern drug development - over 90% of new drug candidates have poor water solubility, making ASD technology essential for formulating them into viable oral products.

The Killorglin facility handles APIs up to OEB 4 potency class and supports organic solvents. Its modified release pellet line encompasses granulation, modified-release coating, encapsulation, and extraction, with capabilities spanning from small development batches to full commercial-scale production.

HiTech Health holds a unique place in Ireland's life science ecosystem: it was the first Irish company to secure a manufacturing licence to produce cell and gene therapies (ATMPs - Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products) on behalf of client biotech and biopharma companies. Founded in 2013, HiTech Health is an end-to-end ATMP CDMO operating from a purpose-built GMP facility in Galway, certified by Ireland's Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) and compliant with all European GMP standards.

The Galway facility was specifically designed to advance the development, manufacturing, and testing of sterile cell and gene therapy formulations, lentiviral vectors, and other advanced biologics. HiTech provides the full ATMP service spectrum: drug substance manufacturing (API), drug product formulation (FDF), research and development, and clinical trial materials production. The facility also provides batch importation and formal QP release for the EU and UK markets.

A key differentiator is HiTech Health's specialist logistics capability for time- and temperature-sensitive therapies - a critical competency in advanced therapeutics where cold chain integrity is directly tied to product efficacy and patient safety. Their regulatory affairs team supports sponsors through EMA, FDA, and HPRA approval pathways, substantially de-risking the journey from first-in-human trials to late-stage clinical supply.

PCI Pharma Services is a leading global CDMO providing integrated drug development, manufacturing, and packaging services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. PCI's Irish operations are anchored at CityNorth Business Campus in Stamullen, County Meath - a strategically located site with excellent connectivity to Dublin Airport and the M1 motorway.

PCI's existing 45,000 sq ft Meath facility is being joined by a major new development: the company has signed a 25-year lease and is constructing a purpose-built 82,000 sq ft pharmaceutical packaging facility at the same campus. The new building is designed specifically for the final assembly, labelling, and packaging of injectable drug products - including vials, pre-filled syringes, and drug-device combination products such as autoinjectors and combination pen devices. These represent the fastest-growing segment in biologics packaging, driven by the surge in GLP-1 and other self-administered biologic therapies.

The new facility is targeting LEED Gold certification, an A3 Building Energy Rating, and rainwater harvesting - reflecting both client sustainability requirements and the Irish Government's green industrial policy.

Almac Group is one of the most comprehensive and vertically integrated CDMOs operating on the island of Ireland, with its global headquarters at Craigavon, Northern Ireland. As a fully independent, privately owned company, Almac has invested consistently across the full drug development lifecycle - from drug discovery and pre-clinical development through clinical trial supply, API manufacturing, and full commercial production.

In March 2025, Almac officially opened a new £65 million commercial manufacturing facility at Craigavon - one of the largest single pharmaceutical manufacturing investments in Northern Ireland's history. This state-of-the-art facility significantly expands Almac's capacity for complex commercial drug products, including advanced sachet presentations. A separate 32,000 sq ft facility houses new large-scale commercial manufacturing suites for this presentation format.

A particular growth area for Almac is peptide API manufacturing, one of the fastest-expanding niches in pharmaceutical outsourcing globally, driven by the GLP-1 revolution (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro) and other peptide-based therapies. A dedicated 28,000 sq ft GMP peptide synthesis and purification facility was completed in early 2025, more than doubling Almac Sciences' peptide API capacity. The facility handles synthesis, purification, and isolation for clinical development and commercial campaigns.

Wasdell Group is a UK-headquartered contract service partner with a major Irish presence, having invested €30 million in constructing a purpose-built 90,000 sq ft GMP pharmaceutical packaging and distribution facility in Mullagharlin, Dundalk. Wasdell's Dundalk site was established to serve pharmaceutical clients requiring EU-based supply chains after Brexit - and has grown into a strategic hub for both clinical and commercial packaging in Ireland.

The Dundalk facility houses 11 production suites equipped with blister packing lines, bottle filling and capping, clinical kit assembly, and serialisation technology for EU FMD (Falsified Medicines Directive) compliance. The site also includes fully equipped QC import testing laboratories and temperature-controlled high-bay warehousing with capability from ambient through to cryogenic storage conditions.

Wasdell Dundalk holds a full Manufacturer's/Importation Authorisation (MIA) licence from Ireland's HPRA, a separate Investigational Medicinal Product (IMP) licence for clinical trial materials, and ISO 13485 certification for medical device packaging - making it one of Ireland's most comprehensively licensed contract packaging operations.

Q1 Scientific - now part of the global CDMO Cambrex since its 2022 acquisition - is a specialist cGMP stability storage and testing company founded in Waterford in 2013. The Waterford facility has grown into a critical node in the European pharmaceutical stability testing network, providing environmentally controlled GMP stability storage services to pharmaceutical, medical device, and life science clients across the EU and globally.

The facility offers the complete range of ICH climatic zone conditions - from Zone I (Northern European temperate) through Zone IV (hot and very humid, required for tropical market registrations) - alongside custom temperature and humidity programs for non-standard stability protocols. The site houses nearly 40 walk-in stability storage chambers, reach-in stability units, and ultra-low temperature freezers down to -80°C for biologic drug substances and ATMP materials.

Cambrex expanded the Waterford site with an additional 10,000 sq ft following the acquisition, bringing the total footprint to approximately 30,000 sq ft. Q1 Scientific's team also provides stability program design consulting, full sample management, and regulatory-grade reporting to support IND, NDA, MAA, and other global regulatory submissions.