GlaxoSmithKline’s Sligo plant will close the plant and lay off its 165 workers over the next three years.
The company told employees at Stiefel Laboratories of its proposal to phase down production at the skincare manufacturing site. The proposal is to decommission the site by the end of 2021.
In a statement, GSK said that the site had delivered significant improvements in cost and efficiency.
"However, demand for the products made on site has not grown in line with previous expectations, due to the highly competitive market in which we operate, making our current business model unsustainable," according to the statement. "We have not made this proposal lightly. We thoroughly evaluated a number of alternatives for the Sligo site, none of them were considered feasible without significant further investment".
The company said that the main priority at present is to support the highly skilled professionals working at the site through this period.