Ireland’s thriving life sciences sector

Ireland continues to punch above its weight when it comes to life sciences. The sector directly employs over 50,000 people across medical devices, pharma and biotechnology and exports exceed €45 million annually. All but one of the world’s 25 largest biotech and pharma companies have a significant presence in Ireland, and many of the world’s most prescribed drugs are manufactured here.

And despite concerns about geopolitical and economic headwinds, Ireland continues to attract large-scale investment from multinationals. The recently announced €1 billion investment by Pfizer in its new Clondalkin plant, medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific’s €100m expansion of its operations in Galway, and Merck’s €440 million expansion in Cork, are just some of the headline-making investments in Ireland by major multinationals this year. The challenge now is to ensure this impressive growth continues.

Ireland’s biopharmaceutical industry is particularly strong, with clusters of manufacturing, research and commercial operations sited in regions across the country, says Bernard Mallee, director of communications and advocacy for the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association. “Our industry is a geostrategic asset,” he notes. “Medicines innovation raises healthcare standards, allowing people to live better for longer but it drives economic performance, too. Ireland’s economic buoyancy is, in part, attributable to tax revenues, export activity, and payroll and jobs generated by our industry.”

While the Covid-19 pandemic paralysed whole sectors, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries were called upon to play a crucial role in innovating our way out of the crisis.

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Garrett Murray, head of life sciences at Enterprise Ireland, agrees that the pharma, medtech and health sectors weathered the pandemic better than most, being integrally involved in many of the necessary innovations.

“The life sciences sector is agile and innovative by nature and one of the most research-intensive sectors of the Irish economy,” he says. “Companies in the life sciences sector demonstrated their resilience and agility in how they responded to the pandemic, with companies supported by Enterprise Ireland at the forefront of meeting the challenges Covid-19 posed through the application of their research and the delivery of solutions.”

According to Michael Lohan, IDA head of life sciences, the life sciences industry globally “excelled” in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. “The development of effective vaccines and therapeutic medicines so quickly has saved countless lives and greatly reduced the impact of the virus on all our lives,” he says. “The industry in Ireland has certainly played its part and is part of the global supply chain that has produced the vaccines and medicines that were so badly needed. Throughout the pandemic all the biopharma manufacturing plants in Ireland continued to operate successfully without any interruption in the supply of the essential innovative medicines that are produced in Ireland.”

Unsurprisingly, the life sciences sector has continued to grow and thrive in Ireland post-pandemic. IDA client companies in the sector now employ over 42,500 highly qualified people directly; Lohan says there have been 15 announcements of new investments or expansions in the sector in the past 12 months.

“These new investments span all modalities, from small molecules and biologics to advanced therapies, such as cell and gene therapy, across all regions of the country, ensuring that the recent growth in employment and innovation continues.”

We are living through a “golden period” of innovation, but Mallee says that if Ireland is to capitalise on that and remain competitive, we will require a robust pipeline of talent.

“Scientists say that we are living in the ‘bio-century’,” he says. “This is a period characterised by profound innovation, with the discovery of new medicines catalysed by the intersection of a better understanding of human biology and the new tools of technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning. It is an exciting time for medicines innovators and for students weighing their career options.”

Inevitably, this translates to an all-time high in demand for skills across the entire industry. “We want people with know-how in a range of areas, including biotherapeutic research, bioprocess design and operations, bio-analytics, engineering, chemistry, toxicology, regulation, licensing, commercial operations, digital marketing, and public policy and reputation. We want people with a mix of technical, teamworking and strategic thinking capabilities,” Mallee says. “A globally networked industry, with a mandate to translate science for the public good, should interest a generation yearning to make a difference in the world.”

Murray agrees, noting that a recent survey of Enterprise Ireland client companies that attended International Markets Week found that more than one in four (26 per cent) had cited skills and talent shortages as being the biggest challenge to their business.

“When I speak with Enterprise Ireland-supported life sciences companies, they consistently highlight three key challenges in their sector; the impact and implementation of new regulations, the cost of doing business and, what is usually first on their list, attracting and retaining skills,” says Murray. “This reality reflects the situation in many other countries with whom we collaborate and compete.” It’s not all bad news, however, as Murray adds: “It is important to note one in four third-level graduates in Ireland is in STEM, the highest per capita in Europe.”

Access to talent is the leading factor in international location decisions and it is the core foundation of Ireland’s value proposition for FDI, Lohan notes.

“IDA is actively engaged with a number of Government departments on the skills, talent and innovation agenda, an example of which is the current Expert Skills Group, which is defining the future skills needs for the pharmaceutical sector,” explains Lohan. “Client companies rate Ireland’s talent base and our education system highly.” However, as in many other countries, these companies face increasing difficulties sourcing the skills they need as technology becomes ever more ubiquitous across sectors.

Organisations cognisant of the global skills gap in life sciences are continually looking at innovative ways of attracting and retaining talent across all functions. “Many companies are now looking to attract talent earlier in the career life cycle, and more intensively support the professional development of those team members. Other companies are looking outside of their traditional pools for recruitment and are instead intensively training team members who are open to a new challenge but have no experience in the sector. Some companies are also looking to apprenticeship models to form a career development path for new employees.” Lohan adds that the life sciences sector engages intensively to build linkages with Irish higher education institutions, SkillNet and other initiatives, and he says: “many of the client companies we work with have cited this as being critical for them in identifying and attracting talent.”

Maximising industry-Government collaboration in the design and delivery of education and training programmes for tomorrow’s medicine innovators will be critical to avoid complacency and ensure future success for Ireland as a global life sciences powerhouse, agrees Mallee. “That means higher education institutions, alongside SFI-funded research centres like the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Pharmaceuticals (SSPC) and APC Microbiome, and the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT), the education and training institute, continuing to work with industry on the research and skills needs of the future,” he says. “Covid-19 has taught us the value of co-operation. We should work together on the needs of a scaling industry and enhance public engagement with science.”