Life Sciences Industry The Way Forward

The Life Sciences sector contributes to nearly half of all exports from Ireland - €43.5 billion which is equivalent to 49% of our exports. This sector doesn’t seem to be as affected by the turbulent economy and isn’t as vulnerable as other sectors have been. Although we have significant help from large international companies such as Pfizer, Genzyme and Wyeth, we also have a number of indigenous firms, which are keeping the sector going. These are key to expanding our share in the global market of life sciences.

Funding is critical for this sector, but as investors tend to take investment in this sector as a medium to long-term investment, it has helped immensely in weathering the storm. Many of the indigenous firms have started out in research labs, and so the government’s Innovation Fund of €500 million will help boost this industry enormously. Dr Paul Roben, director, Life Science and Food Research commercialisation, Enterprise Ireland said: ‘‘Growth will continue in these firms, and I expect to see a lot of new companies starting up. One of the funny things about a downturn for these types of industries is that it opens up investment. Property isn’t doing it for investors, so areas like biotechnology don’t seem as risky.”

It is estimated that there are 170 life science companies employing a total of 35,000 people. Government investment has been key to stimulating growth here. The more success stories from Ireland the more likely for investment. This industry has been growing at a rate of 10% – 12% per year and it does not seem to be slowing down any time soon.

Source - http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=NEWS+FEATURES-qqqm=nav-qqqid=38664-qqqx=1.asp