The Wyeth Biotech Campus at Grange Castle, Clondalkin, Dublin - -. This is Wyeth's latest investment in Ireland, €1.8 billion in a biopharmaceutical campus located on a 90-acre site at the Grange Castle Business Park in South County Dublin. The development is one of the largest integrated biopharmaceutical campuses in the world and is the only facility in Europe to manufacture biopharmaceuticals, pharmaceuticals and vaccines within the same facility. 1,280 full time employees have been recruited to date at Grange Castle.

Pfizer, the world's biggest pharmaceutical firm, is reported to be in talks to acquire rival drug maker Wyeth in a deal that could be valued at more than $60 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Both Big Pharma giants are big employers in Ireland.

Pfizer posted revenue of $48.4 billion and a profit of $8.1 billion in 2007, the most recent year for which data are available. Wyeth's revenue totaled $22.4 billion and its profit $4.6 billion in 2007.

The Journal says joining New York-based Pfizer and Madison, New Jersey-based Wyeth would create a behemoth with combined revenue of about $75 billion and a line of blockbuster drugs including Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor and Wyeth's pediatric vaccine Prevnar.

The newspaper says Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker by revenue, would likely use a combination of cash and stock for the acquisition. Details on price haven't been worked out, but Wyeth has a market capitalization of about $52 billion and premiums in the sector have averaged just over 20%. That would put the value of the deal at well over $60 billion.

Pfizer in particular is bracing for the 2011 expiration of the patent on cholesterol fighter Lipitor, the world's top-selling drug and which accounts for a quarter of Pfizer's roughly $48 billion in annual revenue.

Pfizer acquired Lipitor after a $116 billion takeover of Warner-Lambert Co. in 2000. Two weeks ago, Pfizer announced plans to fire up to 800 researchers worldwide as it signalled that an annual R&D budget of $7.5 billion is failing to fill its drugs pipeline.

Wyeth has more than 3,000 employed in Ireland at - Grange Castle, Newbridge, Askeaton, Dublin and Sligo. Pfizer in Ireland is comprised of approximately 1800 people distributed across locations in both Cork and Dublin.