Life Sciences: Biopharma sector thrives in Cork
, director of BioPharmaChem Ireland, looks at the rise and rise of the Irish life science industry.
Despite the dual challenges presented by Brexit and developments in the US, the life sciences — or biopharma — sector remains a very important contributor to the economy in the Cork area.
Ringaskiddy and Little Island remain important hubs for the sector followed by Carrigtwohill with notable players such as Eli Lilly in its Dunderrow plant and MSD Brinny located further south in the county.
In a world where the competition for mobile high-end investment remains fierce, it really is very welcome to see a number of recent notable investments.
For instance, California based biotech company, Biomarin recently announced another plant expansion at their Ringaskiddy facility; they will invest €40 million in a new fill finish facility creating a further 50 jobs in the process.
This will mean that that facility will now be integrated from drug substance though to final product manufacture, bringing the total investment at the site to over €200 million with 400 employed.
Janssen doubles its biotech plant
This follows the announcement by Janssen to double the size of their Ringaskiddy biotech plant with the investment of over €300 million and creating a further 200 jobs.
MSD Brinny are investing at its Inishannon facility; part of a €280 million investment programme at Carlow and Cork, 200 new positions are being created.
This all bodes very well for the region but also brings its own challenges. Most of these centre round the battle for talent.
BioPharmaChem Ireland (BPCI) has been active in this area and works closely with educational institutions and the Solas funded Cork Training Centre to promote careers and upskilling within the sector.
BPCI promotes the BioPharmaChem Skillnet, based in Cork which provides a wide range of training resources for biopharma companies in the region.
BPCI have just launched their first Apprenticeship Programme with Tallaght Institute of Technology in Dublin.
As part of the wider #SkillnetIreland Network community, BPC Skillnet is building Ireland’s competitiveness through workplace learning and development. #LifeLongLearning #investinyourbest pic.twitter.com/92BE4ifGit
— BioPharmaChem Skillnet (@BPCSkillnet) November 12, 2018
There are two apprenticeship programmes at Laboratory Technician and Analyst Grades.
These allow school leavers to enter the industry directly and to acquire a qualification while working at the same time.
This vocational career path into the sector, common in Germany and Switzerland, will open up the sector to a whole new set of potential talent.
It is planned to launch scheme in Cork in 2019 — interested companies should contact Siobhan Dean or Orla Reynolds at BPCI.
The global biopharma sector continues to grow and evolve and BPCI aims to keep abreast of the very latest developments in the sector to ensure that the Irish industry is well placed to take advantage of this.
The second BioPharma Ambtion conference that BPCI ran in collaboration with NIBRT and IPHA highlighted a number of these.
Digitisation key to future
Digitisation of the sector is a prevailing theme; how a sector which majors in the collection of data can use this to enhance its own competitiveness and efficiency.
Janssen in Little Island shared a project that they are running in this space with delegates.
Often referred to as Factory 4.0, companies are able to have much better control over their operations and supply chains — in some instances being able to double the output from existing operations — this helps them to compete for future investment.
The Alimentary Probiotic Centre based out of UCC explained the enormous potential of the microbiome as source of potential cures for future disease.
Given that much of the sector here is dominated by multinational companies, it is important that their investment footprint is as diverse as possible; this footprint can include product or process development.
This also extends to the rapidly growing Global Business Services (GBS) sector — this is where companies consolidate strategically important global functions of the business; such as financial services, regulatory affairs or human relations into Ireland.
In Cork Eli Lilly has been particularly successful in this space with close to 700 being employed in their GBS centre in Little Island.
Continuous manufacturing will be a priority for the sector — this is a new approach to the manufacture of medicines and their active ingredients enabling real time control of quality and more efficient, less energy intensive with a far smaller environmental footprint.
Eli Lilly in Kinsale has recently had the first such facility in the country approved for use.
Finally, Cork based companies featured well in the Annual Pharma Industry Awards supported by BPCI — there were awards for Pfizer Ringaskiddy, Eli Lilly, Zenith Technologies, Eviview, MSD Brinny and Cork Institute of Technology and of course Paul Duffy of Pfizer was awarded Leader of the Year.
BPCI congratulates all of those companies for flying the flag for Munster!
