Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) plans to add 270 jobs to its Ethicon Biosurgery operation in Ireland, according to the Irish Times.
Ethicon Biosurgery Ireland plans to spend about $110 million (€80 million) building a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing plant worth about $110 million in Plassey, Limerick, where it will make the Evarrest surgical sealant. The new hiring will take place over the next 5 years, according to the newspaper.
"The decision to manufacture Evarrest sealant matrix in Ireland was due to the unique clustering of medical device manufacturing, automation and biomanufacturing skill sets across the Johnson & Johnson companies already operating in Ireland," Ethicon Biosurgery president Dan Wildman said, according to the Times.
Earlier today, Johnson & Johnson topped expectations with its 1st-quarter results and raised its outlook for the rest of the year, sending share prices up this morning.
The Evarrest surgical patch won 510(k) clearance from the FDA in December 2012. A year ago, the American Red Cross and a biopharm company called Omrix Biopharmaceuticals sued J&J for patent infringement, alleging that Ethicon violated 2 patents held by the Red Cross and STB Lifesaving Technologies with the fibrin sealant patches.
Earlier today, Johnson & Johnson said its U.S. diabetes business was off by nearly ⅓ due to Medicare’s new competitive bidding rules. That masked stabilizing performances from its bread-and-butter medical device segments, orthopedics and surgical care, the company said. Specialty surgery revenues rose 4.2% to $874 million overall.
