Maeve Byrne’s life and career has grown in tandem with Novartis.
A native Dubliner who moved to Cork to work on the Novartis site in Ringaskiddy in 1997, she was appointed to the role of site head last September.
Not only did she take the reins during a global pandemic but she also faced the task of navigating the site through a significant transformation, with a global restructuring resulting in Novartis laying off up to 320 of its 550-strong workforce at the Ringaskiddy campus.
“It’s a real honour, after 24 years, to be in the site head role. It’s difficult at the moment, with the transformation, but I know the people here so well, it’s great to be able to support them through it. It’s a huge challenge — I just have to do it in a way that looks after people and treats them fairly. On top of all of that, we have the pandemic. We have a lot of people who still have to come on to the site to make medicines. “So it’s a challenge making sure all the guidelines are followed and so on. Then there are all the people working at home, keeping them connected is very important,” says Byrne.
Novartis Ringaskiddy campus is home to two Novartis organisations, NRL (Novartis Ringaskiddy Limited) and NIS (Novartis Integrated Services).
Operational since 1994, NRL manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients for a range of oncology, respiratory cardiovascular, dermatology, central nervous systems and transplantation medicines; NIS is a global centre providing integrated supply services for Novartis through a number of professional service functions.
The consolidation of the multipurpose plant at Ringaskiddy was announced in October 2019, with job losses also announced at NIS. Earlier this year, it was also announced that around 100 jobs would be transferred to Swiss multinational SGS when they acquired the ISL (International Service Laboratory) at Ringaskiddy, which will continue to provide pharmaceutical quality control testing. The consolidation of the multi-purpose plant is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. The Ringaskiddy campus, however, will still play a key role in the wider organisation.
We have four key brands we’re producing at the moment — in the areas of immunology, oncology and respiratory and we will continue to produce those. We’re also looking at being a second source or business continuity for a cardiovascular drug which is a key brand for Novartis, probably their biggest at the moment. We have been given the go-ahead to invest there, at just over €1 million, to get the plant ready for that, which is a great signal,” says Byrne.
The restructuring has also presented opportunities to those working at Ringaskiddy, she says.
“Even with the transformation, we’re seeing great development of the people here. Even in my own team, 50% have changed within the leadership team, so people are getting opportunities to do something different even though we’re downsizing. The upskilling undertaken by staff has been incredible and it’s open to people who are staying and who are going, which is very important. We need to motivate the people who are staying as well. We have students back on placement, and we hired 11 operators recently because we have a huge production plan for the next 18 months before we close the building. It’s great to see that still happening, and the graduate engineers starting with us. We have a very strong pipeline of talent.”
Flexibility was the key word when it came to dealing with the constraints placed on work practices because of the pandemic, says Byrne.
“We saw a lot of challenges on the childcare side, especially within our laboratory area. The company gave extra days for childcare where necessary. We also supported people whose partners worked on the frontline, because they had to change working patterns to suit as well.” Novartis has also been doing its bit in terms of supporting the manufacture of vaccines.
“Novartis sold its vaccine branch a number of years ago but what they’re doing now is supporting Pfizer BioNTech production at one of the sites in Basel, Switzerland and they’re also supporting manufacturing of the mRNA CureVac vaccines in Kundl, Austria,” says Byrne.
Novartis has been a valued employer in Cork since the establishment of its operations, also playing a role in the wider community, and that will continue into the future, she says.
“We have great interaction with all the neighbours here and other local industries. We have great support from the IDA, BPCI (BioPharmaChem Ireland) and Cork Chamber. I don’t see that changing. Yes, we’ll be smaller but we’ll still be good neighbours. Our activity in the community is key to us.
“Every year we have a community day, where we go out to different places, such as Lota and local schools. We’re also looking at doing some work now with Cork Stroke Support Centre, we have donated some funds for that.”
Byrne is optimistic for the future, despite the changes that still lie ahead for the Ringaskiddy campus, and says that its people are its greatest asset.
“It will be smaller for us but we are looking at different opportunities in terms of doing something with the multi-purpose plant. I believe the plant will still be here and still be fully operational. It’s all about the people here, and we have put things in place to support them.
“We have a very good employee assistance programme, and a number of us have also been trained in the mental health programme which is great because I think that a lot of people are going to need that going forward. Also, even when we return to the office, if people are happy to continue working from home, then Novartis is going to allow people that opportunity.”
Keeping up the connection with the other Irish outposts of the Novartis operation is also important, says Byrne.
“We also have great links with our Novartis Ireland colleagues — Audrey Derveloy our MD in Dublin, and Ciara O’Connell who’s the site head in Novartis Global Service Centre.”
The fact that there are three women in top positions in Novartis’ Irish operation is also a sign of the industry’s ongoing commitment to encourage more girls and women into STEM jobs. Novartis also continues to provide recruitment opportunities to students, graduates and others.
Skills training helps staff avail of opportunities
Since last March, 72% of staff at Novartis in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, have engaged in upskilling.
The impetus for further training was the significant restructuring at the plant, and a multi-pronged approach was taken to help staff across all areas gain additional qualifications.
Mark Meehan, site training and learning head/HR business partner at Novartis Ringaskiddy, says it was a huge logistical undertaking but one that has reaped rewards.
“The decision was made to see if we could create a quite specific suite of upskilling opportunities, to look at what we could offer up to 600 people that would create an environment where they would be willing to look at education in a couple of ways.
“We had to look after the people who potentially would be staying and create options that would add value to the business as we move in a different direction, and also to look after the folks who were leaving. Underpinning that was to have as many supports in place as possible.”
Mark Meehan worked with various State bodies, academic institutions and organisations including to BioPharmaChem Skillnet and Bio-Pharma Chem Ireland (BPCI) and the Education and Training Board (ETB) to create a suite of bespoke awards which would build on the existing skills of the wide range of employees at Ringaskiddy — from scientists, engineers, and operators, to quality control analysts.
The initiative has been a big success, and 67% of all participants have already received accreditations in areas including pharmaceutical processing, project management, regulatory affairs, digital learning and emerging analytical techniques.
Some of those involved have already taken up new opportunities within the sector relating to the skills they have gained.
Meehan acknowledges the dedication and hard work of the employees involved, who juggled work, life and study, all while dealing with the constraints of Covid.
“In the early stages of all of this, Covid kicked all our plans into the air. The universities, BioPharmaChem Skillnet and the ETB were also great. We did it, we got there,” says Meehan.
He says that the upskilling push also brought people together at a time of very significant change.
“It was great to see the number of people who started setting up support groups and study groups, there was a broader ecosystem of people supporting each other.
“It has been a comfort blanket for a lot of folks, it has given them something to focus on and we have all been on the march together. There is a real sense of togetherness in that.”