As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 23, 2021

Registration No. 333-            

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

JAZZ PHARMACEUTICALS PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Fifth Floor, Waterloo Exchange,

Waterloo Road, Dublin 4, Ireland

011-353-1-634-7800

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc 2011 Equity Incentive Plan

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc 2007 Employee Stock

Purchase Plan

(Full titles of the plans)

Bruce C. Cozadd

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc

c/o Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

3170 Porter Drive

Palo Alto, CA 94304

(650) 496-3777

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copy to:

Chadwick L. Mills, Cooley LLP

101 California Street, 5th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94111-5800

(415) 693-2000

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the Registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the “Registration Statement”) is being filed by Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (the “Registrant”) for the purpose of registering (i) an additional 2,526,437 ordinary shares of the Registrant, nominal value $0.0001 per share (“Ordinary Shares”), to be issued pursuant to the Registrant’s 2011 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated (the “2011 Equity Incentive Plan”), pursuant to an annual increase provision in the 2011 Equity Incentive Plan and (ii) an additional 842,145 Ordinary Shares of the Registrant to be issued pursuant to the Registrant’s 2007 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, as amended and restated (the “2007 ESPP”), pursuant to an annual increase provision in the 2007 ESPP.

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

The following documents filed by the Registrant with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) are incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement:

All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, other than specific sections of such documents as set forth therein, Current Reports furnished under Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and exhibits furnished on such form that relate to such items, prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that all of the Registrant’s Ordinary Shares offered have been sold or which deregisters all of such Ordinary Shares then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of the filing of such documents.

For purposes of this Registration Statement, any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Pursuant to the Registrant’s memorandum and articles of association, as amended, subject to the provisions of, and so far as may be permitted by the Irish Companies Act 2014, any director or secretary of the Registrant may be indemnified by the Registrant against all costs, charges, losses, expenses and liabilities incurred by him or her in the execution and discharge of his or her duties or in relation thereto, including any liability incurred by him or her in defending civil or criminal proceedings which relate to anything done or omitted or alleged to have been done or omitted by him or her as a director, secretary, executive or employee of the Registrant and in which judgment is given in his or her favor (or the proceedings are otherwise disposed of without any finding or admission of any material breach of duty on his part) or in which he or she is acquitted or in connection with any application under any statute for relief from liability in respect of any such act or omission in which relief is granted to him or her by the court. Pursuant to the Registrant’s memorandum and articles of association, as amended, subject to the provisions of, and so far as may be permitted by the Irish Companies Act 2014, the Registrant shall indemnify any current or former executive officer of the Registrant (excluding any directors or secretary) against expenses, including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil,

criminal, administrative or investigative, other than an action by or in the right of the Registrant, to which she or he was, is, or is threatened to be made a party by reason of the fact that she or he is or was such an executive, provided that the indemnity shall not extend to any matter which would render it void pursuant to the Irish Companies Act 2014. Under the Registrant’s memorandum and articles of association, as amended, the Registrant’s current or former executive officers, however, will not be entitled to indemnification by the Registrant if they have been adjudged to be liable for their own fraud or dishonesty in the performance of duties to the Registrant.

The Registrant has entered into indemnity agreements with each of its directors, its secretary and persons designated as executive officers that require it to indemnify such persons against any and all expenses (including attorneys’ fees), witness fees, judgments, fines, penalties, settlements and other amounts incurred (including expenses of a derivative action) in connection with any action, suit or proceeding or alternative dispute resolution mechanism, inquiry, hearing or investigation, whether threatened, pending or completed and whether conducted by the Registrant or any other party, to which any such person may be made a party by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee, consultant, agent or fiduciary of the Registrant or any of its subsidiaries or other affiliated enterprises, provided that such person’s conduct did not constitute a breach of his or her duty of loyalty or other fiduciary duty to the Registrant or its shareholders, and was not an act or omission not in good faith or which involved intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of laws. The indemnity agreements also set forth certain procedures that will apply in the event of a claim for indemnification thereunder. The indemnity agreements with certain of the Registrant’s directors further provide that, with respect to a director that is serving on the Registrant’s board of directors at the direction of a venture or other investment fund or entity, with respect to such indemnitee’s service as a director, officer, employee, agent and/or fiduciary of the Registrant, the Registrant’s obligations under the indemnity agreement are the primary source of indemnification and advancement, the Registrant is required to make all expense advances, and the Registrant is liable for all of such indemnitee’s expenses, to the extent required by the indemnity agreement and the Registrant’s memorandum and articles of association, without regard to any rights the indemnitee may have against the applicable venture or other investment fund or entity, and the Registrant irrevocably waives, relinquishes and releases any and all claims against the applicable venture or other investment fund or entity for contribution, subrogation or any other recovery of any kind in connection with the Registrant’s obligations under the indemnity agreement.

The Registrant maintains directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. The policy insures the Registrant’s directors, secretary and executives against unindemnified losses arising from certain wrongful acts in their capacities as directors, secretary and executives, and reimburses the Registrant for those losses for which the Registrant has lawfully indemnified the directors, secretary and executives. The policy contains various exclusions, none of which will apply to any offerings pursuant to this registration statement.

The Registrant is a party to an investor rights agreement that provides for cross-indemnification in connection with registration of the Registrant’s ordinary shares on behalf of parties to such agreements, including selling shareholders that may be named in one or more supplements to the prospectus included in any such registration statement.

Not applicable.

1. The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

(i) To include any prospectus required by section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective Registration Statement;

(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement;

Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(i) and (a)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to section 13 or section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference herein.

2. The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

3. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Palo Alto, State of California on February 23, 2021.

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Bruce C. Cozadd, Renée Galá, Neena M. Patil and Patricia Carr, and each or any of them, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full powers of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and generally to do all such things in his or her name and behalf in their capacities as officers and directors to enable Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc to comply with the provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and all requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or their or his substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated:

Exhibit 5.1

23 February 2021

Board of Directors

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc

5^th Floor

Waterloo Exchange

Waterloo Road

Dublin 4

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We express no opinion, and make no representation or warranty, as to any matter of fact or in respect of any documents which may exist in relation to the Plans other than the Documents.

Subject to the assumptions and qualifications set out in this Opinion and to any matters not disclosed to us, we are of the opinion that:

For the purpose of giving this Opinion, we assume the following without any responsibility on our part if any assumption proves to have been untrue as we have not verified independently any assumption:

Authenticity and bona fides

Accuracy of searches and warranties

Commercial Benefit

This Opinion is addressed to you in connection with the registration of the Shares with the SEC. We hereby consent to the filing of this Opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement to be filed with the SEC. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in a category of person whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act.

Yours faithfully

SCHEDULE

DOCUMENTS

Exhibit 23.2

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc

We consent to the use of our reports with respect to the consolidated financial statements and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting incorporated by reference herein.