Head of Biopharmaceuticals at IDA Ireland Tommy Fanning highlights that Ireland has a long tradition of pharmaceutical operational excellence and has been attracting manufacturing facilities from major life sciences companies for more than fifty years.

The Life Sciences sector in Ireland has continued to grow strongly in recent years and there are now more than 60,000 people employed in export focussed manufacturing and services. There are almost 300 medical device companies in the country with 28,000 employees.

Ireland has maintained a strong cluster of traditional small molecule pharmaceutical manufacturing and the last decade has seen huge growth in biologics manufacturing and a diverse range of international services activities. Ireland now has 18 biologics manufacturing facilities spread right across the country.

Many international companies have also established finance and treasury centres in Ireland, as well as international supply chain and technical operations offices. The country has also attracted biopharma specific services such as commercial support, medical writing, pharmacovigilance (PV), regulatory affairs and pharmacoeconomics operations.

Traditionally the biopharma industry has sold products using a national sales force model. But that’s starting to change as we see companies build more targeted teams around digital sales platforms. Ireland has particular expertise in the analytical, multilingual and multijurisdictional skillsets required to carry these activities. Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Accenture, IBM and Linkedin are some of the many multinational companies that have based their international operations centres in Ireland.

The availability of clinical research, medical, regulatory and pharmacoeconomics expertise in addition to the technical and analytical capability makes Ireland an ideal location for Global Business Services Centres in the Sciences sector.

The Irish Government continues to invest in the country’s education, research and broader ecosystem to ensure the steady pipeline of talent available for the life sciences sector. Ireland’s Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) has ensured the maintenance of a high-quality professional regulatory environment securing global supply chains for life-saving medicines.

IDA Ireland is available to assist you at all stages of your decision-making process and we also have a dedicated aftercare team to assist you with project implementation.

Why choose Ireland?

• Talent – Ireland has one of the youngest and fastest-growing labour force in Europe. More than 27% of undergrad enrolments were in the areas of natural sciences, ICT or engineering in the 2015/2016 academic year.
• Regulatory compliance – Ireland has an exemplary compliance record with regulatory agencies, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).
• Track record – Some of the world’s top ten biopharmaceutical companies have a significant presence in Ireland and the country is a proven location for multilingual service activities.
• Research and development (R&D) – Ireland has a strong track record of clinical and academic research excellence, ranking highly in nanotechnology and immunology.
• Technology services hub – Ireland is a major European technology hub with a talented multilingual technically qualified workforce.