Pfizer to Close Manufacturing Plant in Ireland

Pfizer (New York, NY) has announced plans to close its manufacturing plant located at Little Island, Ireland, after a failed attempt to find a buyer for the facility.

The Little Island facility, which was acquired from Pharmacia in 2005, currently manufactures the active pharmaceutical ingredient for Pfizer’s blockbuster cholesterol drug, Lipitor, which comes off patent in 2011.

The layoffs will begin in October of this year and the plant is expected to close completely by the end of 2009.