WHILE STUDYING an entrepreneurship module as part of the MBA programme at the University of Limerick, Tom Brennan (pictured) and Patsy Carney completed a business plan as an academic exercise.
They soon realised the business proposition was a real opportunity and decided to go for it. EirGen Pharma was established in March 2005 to specialise in the development and manufacture of highly potent pharmaceutical products, typically used to treat cancer.
The company was given high-potential start-up status by Enterprise Ireland, which provided part of the financing requirements. This, coupled with the founders' own investment and that of a business associate in Canada, and the use they made of the Business Expansion Scheme, enabled the company to begin equipping a facility in Waterford.
By the end of August 2006, the new premises was built and the company had received the necessary licences from the Irish Medicines Board. EirGen Pharma was now fully licensed to develop oncology, cytotoxic, steroidal and immunosuppressant products in a purpose-built, high-containment facility which used innovative isolation technology.
The pair cite their credibility as a contributory factor in their success, as it enabled them to attract an excellent team from the start. In the second full year of operation, ending in March 2008, EirGen Pharma had sales of more than €2.2 million and profit of more than €600,000.
The company constantly explores new opportunities and has ambitious expansion plans for the facility to support the commercial supply of anti-cancer products in the near future.
Products/services:
Since inception three years ago, the company has developed four oncology products which have successfully passed clinical trials.
One of these products, which is indicated for the treatment of breast cancer, has been submitted for a pan-European licence and will be submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval in November. More than 15 research and development projects are under way, with a healthy pipeline identified.
Customers:
EirGen Pharma's customer base extends to the US, Canada, EU, the Middle East and Japan. It is also negotiating out-licensing rights for its products in South America.
Is there any interesting or unusual circumstance surrounding the inception of the company?
Having completed the business plan for the entrepreneurship module of the MBA at University of Limerick, we were selected to represent the university in a business-plan competition at San Diego State University, California, on St Patrick's Day, 2005. This involved a grilling by west-coast business experts and, despite feeling like lambs to the slaughter, we made the final six from a total of 80 entries, which included many of the top business schools in the US.
Which personal attributes do you think have contributed most to your success?
The ability of two founders not to kill each other and not to take ourselves too seriously! We make a good team with complementary skills; two heads being better than one is very much the case.
We have a good work ethic. We also rejected the hypothesis that start-up life-science companies need to burn large amounts of cash for many years after start-up. We endeavoured to become cashflow positive as soon as possible.
What is your biggest business achievement?
In only our second full year of operation, EirGen Pharma achieved sales in excess of €2.2 million and profit of more than €600,000. We have also completed four successful clinical studies for breast and prostate cancer products, which are being out-licensed to partners in the US, EU, Canada, Japan and the Middle East.
