A US pharmaceutical company is to expand its Dublin operation with the creation of 50 new jobs.

BioMarin Manufacturing, a subsidiary of BioMarin Pharmaceutical, will be recruiting staff for senior accounting, finance, customer service and marketing positions at its Global Commercial Operations Hub.

The company announced earlier this week that the European Commission had approved its enzyme replacement drug VIMIZIM, which is used to treat lysosomal storage disorders.

Its Dublin arm has responsibility for international supply chain, logistics and high-level commercial decision making, including price, distribution and third-party contracts for the launch of VIMIZIM.

BioMarin also has a biopharma manufacturing facility in Shanbally in Co Cork, which is expected to grow to 140 employees by 2015.

The expansion is supported by Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton said: "I know from our various meetings both in Ireland and USA that BioMarin is a world-leading company in its field. As part of our Action Plan for Jobs we have specifically targeted biopharmaceuticals, and we have seen some major successes in this area in the past two years despite the challenges facing the Pharma sector more broadly."

BioMarin's James Lennertz said: "Ireland is an ideal business environment, which lets us focus on what we do best-targeting diseases like Morquio A syndrome that lack effective drug therapies and affect relatively few people, many of whom are children.

“The expansion of BioMarin’s Global Commercial Operation in Dublin is an essential part of our strategy in providing therapies that are the first or best of their kind.”