The Government has selected UCD as a preferred bidder for a €90 million project to build the State's first research and training facility for the biotech sector, writes Jamie Smyth, Technology Reporter
Its bid to set up a National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) was ranked ahead of rival proposals from Dublin City University and University College Cork.
The Government hopes the institute will meet a shortfall in biotechnology skills in the Republic and attract investment to create a new "biotech cluster".
An IDA Ireland review panel has recommended that the State begin negotiations with UCD, which has made its bid in partnership with Trinity College and the Institute of Technology Sligo.
An IDA spokesman confirmed that negotiations had begun with UCD to iron out some issues within its proposal. But he said this did not exclude the State from entering talks with rival bidders if no deal is concluded.
UCD has proposed that the NIBRT facility would provide resources to leading research programmes, undergraduate and postgraduate education and the bioprocessing industry.
It would include an advanced fermentation facility that would be capable of growing complicated cell cultures under controlled conditions, a key requirement for the growing biotechnology sector in the Republic.
Biotechnology is the alteration of molecules, genes and cells - the basic building blocks of life - to develop useful products, processes or services such as new medications and therapies, cloning, genetically modified foods and enhanced crops.
It is becoming a force in drug research, which previously focused on chemical synthesis to formulate treatments. And IDA Ireland is now targeting the fast-growing sector in an attempt to lure in multinational investment.
Wyeth, Genzyme, Schering-Plough and Centocor have made significant investments in Irish biotechnology projects. And the IDA is involved in discussions with other firms about potential biotechnology investments.
The capital cost of the proposed new institute is estimated at about €50 million and will be 90 per cent funded by the IDA. But the cost of running the operation, estimated at about €40 million in the first few years, will have to be met by UCD from private sector funding and European and State research grants.
UCD plans to set up NIBRT on its south Dublin campus, which already has substantial biotechnology resources, including three small bioreactors, technology platforms to support biotech research and the €95 million Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research.
This centre already conducts various biotechnology research in the study of proteins, cell biology and molecular medicine.
One of NIBRT's roles will be to provide protein development and production services to the biotechnology industry and support fundamental research at a higher education institutions. It is hoped that this will enable the IDA to compete with states like Switzerland, Puerto Rico and Singapore for biotechnology investments.
