US Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly could be set to increase its Cork workforce to 1000.

The company has signed contracts for a new €20m office building in Little Island’s Eastgate Business Park.

The O’Flynn group is set to develop the new 70,000 sq ft office which will be capable of housing up to 500 workers.

The development will see the company more than double its capacity at the Business Park – where it already employs 400 people.

The Irish Examiner reports that construction begins in the coming weeks and is due to be completed in 2019.

The expansion will bring the company’s total office space in the business park to 135,000 sq ft – and is seen as a clear signal that several hundred new jobs are on the way.