Medtech player Abbott has marked the official opening of its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Kilkenny, Ireland with a ceremony attended by An Taoiseach, Simon Harris, TD, and Abbott Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Robert Ford. The site is a global manufacturing centre of excellence for Abbott's diabetes care business and will employ more than 800 people.

The Kilkenny facility is part of a €440 million investment in Ireland, which includes a significant expansion of the company's Donegal site, where a further 200 jobs are being created. The new 30,000-square meter Kilkenny facility is producing FreeStyle Libre 3 sensors, the world's smallest sensors and latest generation in Abbott's world-leading continuous glucose monitoring portfolio for people living with diabetes.

Abbott's Kilkenny facility was built with sustainability in mind. The site is fully electric, powered by six air-to-water heat pumps, has nearly 600 solar panels on the roof and features tanks for collecting rainwater to use onsite.

Outside Ireland, Abbott is expanding its manufacturing capacity across Europe with a further £85 million investment in its Witney facility in Oxfordshire, UK.

Abbott's FreeStyle Libre portfolio is the world's leading continuous glucose monitoring system, now helping more than 6 million people across over 60 countries.