Latest News
Home / Business Sectors / Life Sciences Ireland / Life Sciences News / Latest News / Life Sciences Events and SSPSGDP Launch
Life Sciences Events and SSPSGDP Launch
IEA Life Sciences Ireland held two regional meetings in Galway and Cork in June 2011. The meetings were an ideal opportunity for company representatives in the life sciences industry to meet and network with industry peers and to listen to a diverse range of presentations from the National Standards Authority of Ireland, Atlantic Way, Bearing Point and IEA Life Sciences Ireland.
Life Sciences Ireland also launched a new supply chain initiative for the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors aiming to increase efficiency and efficiency in the industry called “Security of Supply and Patient Safety”(SSPS). 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 Life Sciences Ireland event in Galway on June 29, 2011:
“Continuous investment in training and re-skilling relevant to the needs of Life Sciences industry is key to retaining existing employment in the sector, as well as underpinning the prospects for future investment. Hence, this IEA Life Sciences initiative being announced today is very welcomed and very much the right way to ensure we return to full employment”.
Dermot Carberry, Chairman of the Irish Exporters Association for Cork /Kerry region stated at the Life Sciences Ireland meeting in Cork on June 30:
“Recovery will depend crucially on the skills and flexibility of the people. This is why the IEA Life Sciences initiative being launched today is so important, in that it will underpin and support future growth in Cork’s most important industry and export sector.”
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’ (SSPS) initiative being launched by the IEA Life Sciences Ireland division is a significant step assisting 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 is an industry-led initiative with a Steering Group composed of representatives from Boston Scientific, Allergan, Pfizer, Helsinn and Genzyme. The initiative will:
• Strengthen supply chain management skills within the sector
• Align education and training programmes with industry requirements - including continuous professional development (CPD) provision
• Develop structured international trade import /export knowledge portal for use by multiple sites in a shared on-line manner
• Provide clear guidelines on best practice in:
o Reverse logistics to secure the removal of shelf life expired or otherwise un-usable pharmaceutical or medical devices
o Security and anti-counterfeit control
o Positioning and track and trace technologies
o Packaging and temperature control logistics
• Develop an operator up-skilling programme
• Enhance 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 (GMP).
Life Sciences Ireland also launched a new supply chain initiative for the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors aiming to increase efficiency and efficiency in the industry called “Security of Supply and Patient Safety”(SSPS). 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 Life Sciences Ireland event in Galway on June 29, 2011:
“Continuous investment in training and re-skilling relevant to the needs of Life Sciences industry is key to retaining existing employment in the sector, as well as underpinning the prospects for future investment. Hence, this IEA Life Sciences initiative being announced today is very welcomed and very much the right way to ensure we return to full employment”.
Dermot Carberry, Chairman of the Irish Exporters Association for Cork /Kerry region stated at the Life Sciences Ireland meeting in Cork on June 30:
“Recovery will depend crucially on the skills and flexibility of the people. This is why the IEA Life Sciences initiative being launched today is so important, in that it will underpin and support future growth in Cork’s most important industry and export sector.”
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’ (SSPS) initiative being launched by the IEA Life Sciences Ireland division is a significant step assisting 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 is an industry-led initiative with a Steering Group composed of representatives from Boston Scientific, Allergan, Pfizer, Helsinn and Genzyme. The initiative will:
• Strengthen supply chain management skills within the sector
• Align education and training programmes with industry requirements - including continuous professional development (CPD) provision
• Develop structured international trade import /export knowledge portal for use by multiple sites in a shared on-line manner
• Provide clear guidelines on best practice in:
o Reverse logistics to secure the removal of shelf life expired or otherwise un-usable pharmaceutical or medical devices
o Security and anti-counterfeit control
o Positioning and track and trace technologies
o Packaging and temperature control logistics
• Develop an operator up-skilling programme
• Enhance 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 (GMP).
 |
 |
