In ancient Celtic folklore, Tír na nÓg is the land of eternal youth, where time stands still and people don’t age.
Today, in the west of Ireland, they’ve come close to bottling it.
Westport, a small coastal town in picturesque County Mayo, is the unlikely nerve center of the world’s Botox supply. A facility operated by the Chicago-based pharmaceutical company AbbVie employs at least 1,300 local people and about 500 additional contractors – an economic backbone to a town of barely 7,000 people.
Therapeutic Botox – used for conditions that include muscle spasticity, migraines, overactive bladders, certain eye conditions and excessive sweating – brought in $3.3 billion for AbbVie last year, with sales of cosmetic Botox, often used to smooth facial wrinkles, generating $2.72 billion.
But last week, US President Donald Trump took a step toward his goal of bringing that multi-billion-dollar industry home, announcing 15% tariffs on all pharmaceutical exports from the European Union.
