DUBLIN, Ireland - A major biopharmaceutical firm is undergoing a significant expansion of its Dublin headquarters which will see its workforce grow from 70 to 200 over the next eighteen months.

Richard Bruton, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation said Monday PAREXEL International Corporation, a global biopharmaceutical services provider listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, is opening a new global decision-making hub for the company in Kilmainham, Dublin 8. PAREXEL plans to hire an additional 130 people over the next 12 to 18 months across all areas of their business clinical, technology, legal, consulting, and logistics and at all levels, including senior decision-making roles in their Kilmainham location. Seventy employees are in place, and recruitment is underway for the new positions.

"Life sciences is a key sector which we have targeted as part of our Action Plan for Jobs, and in recent years we have seen an impressive jobs performance in this area, both in Dublin and across the country," Bruton said Monday. "Today's announcement that PAREXEL is adding 130 jobs in Kilmainham is a great boost and an example of the wide range of different types of jobs that Ireland can attract in this sector. I look forward to working closely with Douglas and the team at PAREXEL as they roll out this project."

"Europe is important to our growth and business strategy, and Ireland specifically is a key country from which we can better serve our customers and continue our growth," Douglas A. Batt, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, PAREXEL said Monday. "This office will be a global decision-making hub for our company. Senior leaders based here will be making strategic decisions for the company worldwide, and this office will play a critical role in continuing to bring PAREXEL's global brand to the world."

The investment is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland. "PAREXEL's decision to locate in Ireland is an endorsement of the skills available to biopharmaceutical companies here," Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland said Monday. "Ireland is the perfect place in which to locate a global hub our location facilitates access into Europe, the Middle East and further afield. IDA Ireland has targeted the Life Sciences, and in particular, the biopharmaceuticals sector for several years now. PAREXEL will be joining a very large cluster of biopharma companies that have already chosen Ireland as a place to locate business," he added.