Almost 300 new jobs will be created by three pharmaceutical firms in County Kerry, Ireland, according to Irish Times.

The positions are being created as part of phase one of the development of a $65 billion Global Pharmaceutical Centre of Excellence (GPCE) in Tralee.

The 282 new jobs, announced by the International Prevention Research Institute (iPRI), Global Research Services (GRS) and Optivia Biotechnology, are primarily R&D jobs and will begin over the next 15 months.

The promoters of the center want to establish a campus of more than 50 different small to medium-sized pharmaceutical companies in the city and hope 4,500 people will be working at the facility within the next four years.

Funding for the initial development of the center has already been secured and discussions are ongoing with a number of investors, including the Saudi Arabian government.

“We’re delighted to see this first announcement of jobs by three well-respected organizations, part of ongoing development of the Global Pharmaceutical Centre of Excellence. We promised we’d deliver 300 jobs in the first phase, so this is a very good milestone,” said Rory Doyle, chief executive of the proposed center and a senior executive with Cork-based drug firm Pharmadel.