In May 2019, ILC Dover opened a manufacturing facility in Ireland to produce the company’s pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical product lines. The plant is designed to strengthen the company’s single-use powder handling solutions business.
The company’s existing operations in County Cork are being relocated to the facility.
Announced in November 2018, the plant generated 70 jobs. The Irish Government extended support to the project through IDA Ireland, a semi-state agency promoting foreign direct investment in the country.
ILC Dover manufacturing facility location
ILC Dover’s new manufacturing facility is located in Blarney Business Park in County Cork, Ireland. The park is a 28ha business campus situated on Mallow Road in the town of Blarney.
Located 6km north of Cork City, the park is accessible via the N20 Cork-Limerick road, M8 Dublin motorway and Blarney railway station.
ILC Dover manufacturing facility details
ILC Dover’s Blarney facility features 10,500ft² of cleanroom space, including 6,500ft² of Class 8 capacity.
The cleanrooms will cater to ILC Dover’s line of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products, including disposable systems developed for facilitating powder transfers from current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) to nanogram levels.
ILC Dover’s products feature ArmorFlex® as a key component. This material is a custom-made film developed to provide extreme elongation performance for strength and rigidity.
The facility includes offices, meeting rooms and space for demonstrating products to clients.
ILC Dover’s pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products
ILC Dover’s biopharmaceutical products employ containment solutions, which comprise the transfer, containment and mixing of single-use powders. The transfer products include EZ BioPac®, DoverPac SF, bag in-bag outliners and the G2Pac™ containment system.
The company’s containment products include liners, isolators, weigh and dispense, and automated dispensing solutions, while its mixing products include de-lumping systems, powder-to-liquid mixing solutions and single-use powder transfer solutions.
The pharmaceutical product line features flexible isolators, single-use powder handling and process equipment containment solutions, including tablet presses, mixers, milling and automated air controls.
The flexible isolators include in-process isolators, drum transfers, isolators, liners and canisters, while single-use powder handling solutions include Doverpac® containment systems, pharma-powered air purifying respirators (PARP) and powder transfer cone sleeves.
Marketing commentary on ILC Dover
Headquartered in Delaware, US, ILC Dover is recognised for its flexible containment solutions. The company designs and manufactures engineered products utilising flexible materials with high durability.
Apart from the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry, the company serves the personal care, food and beverage, healthcare, chemical and aerospace industries.
The company was founded in 1940 to supply flexible attack boats to the American troops during World War II. It has also developed protective gear and suits for American troops, including the army, navy and airforce.
ILC Dover is also known for building Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s space suits for the moon mission in the 1960s, and has been designing and manufacturing the space suit pressure garments for NASA since then.
The company expanded its biopharma business in Ireland and started distribution across Europe during the 2,000s. It currently operates in Ireland, Singapore, Mexico and Switzerland.