Galway Launch of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Supply Chain Initiative

IEA Life Sciences Ireland Looks To The Future

Life Sciences Ireland, a division of the Irish Exporters Association, today launched a new supply chain initiative for the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors at an event held in Boston Scientific’s Galway plant. The initiative is being delivered in association with a Welsh Enterprise development organisation, Menter Môn, and is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Ireland Wales (INTERREG) Programme 2007-2013.

John Carr, chairman of the IEA Mid-West region stated at the launch:
“The Mid-West is home to an extraordinary cohort of innovative medical technology companies who are world leaders in their fields, and non more so than Boston Scientific. However, Ireland is going through rough economic times and global trade has become tougher. Continuous investment in training and re-skilling relevant to the needs of Life Sciences industry is key to retaining existing employment in the sector here in the Mid-West , as well as underpinning the prospects for future investment in the region. Hence, this IEA Life Sciences initiative being announced to day is very welcome and very much the right way to ensure we return to full employment’’.

The Life Sciences sector is currently facing significant global challenges. Cost pressures, patent expirations, the rise of competition from generic drugs, the infiltration of the supply chain with counterfeit drugs, a shrinking research pipeline, an increasingly global supply chain, medical devices and pharmaceutical converging technologies, increasing and changing regulation and mergers and acquisitions are all altering the structure of the industry.

The challenge for the Irish Life Sciences sector now is to embrace the concepts of manufacturing and supply chain excellence, as well as those of on-site innovation and product development, linking research directly to manufacturing and supply in a seamless secure manner. A suitably skilled workforce will be an important ingredient to meet these challenges.

The ‘Security of Supply and Patient Safety’ initiative being launched in Galway today by the IEA’s Life Sciences Ireland division, is a significant step to assist companies in the sector to meet these challenges. The SSPS involves the creation of a knowledge portal, which it is hoped will become the portal of choice for the life sciences community in Ireland over the coming years. The portal will host a suite of customised training modules that will examine a range of issues that are of particular relevance to companies operating in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. The portal will also evolve into an industry communication platform where life science professionals will be able to access information on international supply chain requirements, industry trends and events, compliance and regulatory updates, in addition to sharing information with their industry peers.

The SSPS initiative led by the IEA’s industry panel from Boston Scientific, Allegan, Pfizer, Helsinn and Genzyme will over the three year time frame of the project;

  • Strengthen supply chain management skills within the sector
  • Align education and training programmes with industry requirements - including continuous professional development (CPD) provision
  • Developing a structured international trade import /export knowledge portal for use by multiple sites in a shared on-line manner
  • Providing clear guidelines on best practice in:
                 > Reverse logistics to secure the removal of shelf life expired or otherwise un-useable pharmaceutical or medical devices
                 > Security and anti-counterfeit control
                 > Positioning and track and trace technologies
                 > Packaging and temperature control
  • Developing an operative up-skilling programme
  • Enhancing industry-academia collaboration

The training material will be delivered through blended learning, which incorporates online learning and classroom learning. The portal will go live in early 2012. Peter Finnegan, IEA Life Sciences Ireland Manager, who spoke at the launch stated:

“the initiative will offer cutting edge industry-led training that will help Irish based companies to comply with international legislative supply chain requirements efficiently and effectively, thereby improving their competitiveness in the global marketplace.”

Life Sciences Ireland was established as a division of the Irish Exporters Association in 2006. To date it has developed a reputation for delivering high quality training programmes in the area of Good Distribution Practice (GDP). It has also developed a GDP Code of Practice and an IEA certified GDP Passport. This training will become increasingly relevant given that the provisions contained in the new amendment to the Pharma Directive 2001/83/EC places increased importance on the role that GDP plays in Good Manufacturing Practice.

Contact

Further information on IEA Life Sciences Ireland can be obtained by contacting:

Peter Finnegan
Life Sciences Ireland Manager
E: peterfinnegan@irishexporters.org
T: 01 661 2182 (ext. 24)

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