The new facility will manufacture packaging components for insulin injector cartridges and other high-value packaging components for injectable drugs.
The 95,000ft² facility will be built at a 44-acre site at Knockhouse on Old Kilmeaden Road, and has been granted clearance for construction. Civil work will begin in mid-July.
West Pharmaceutical Services chief executive officer Eric Green said: "West’s presence in Ireland is of great importance to us for meeting customer demand for high-quality packaging components.
"Packaging systems play an important role in ensuring the purity, long-term stability and efficacy of injectable drug products.
"The advanced components that will be produced at our state-of-the-art Waterford plant will help our pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers deliver their products to patients."
Operations at the new facility will be initiated in late 2018 and the company intends to employ around 150 people in engineering, production and other positions by that time.
The new facility will function as a center of excellence for the company’s elastomeric sheeting, which is used to package insulin for use in pen injectors.
In addition, the facility will include manufacturing capacity for additional proprietary injectable component product lines, which are integral to the packaging of many injectable medicines.