Dr Paul Anglim, partnership development lead for EIT Health Ireland-UK, takes a look at how Ireland’s thriving medtech ecosystem came to be, and why it continues to go from strength to strength.
In understanding Ireland’s success in medtech, it’s important to look at how Ireland turned around its manufacturing slump to become a hotspot for nine of the world’s top ten medtech companies.
The origins of its prosperous medtech sector can be traced back to its highly-skilled manufacturing workforce and strategic government support. When the manufacturing industry suffered a downturn in the 1980s, both the Irish government and those running the sites wanted to safeguard and grow the field of manufacturing.
For them, it was time to embed R&D and innovation into medtech.
Making Ireland an attractive place for R&D
Over the next few decades, the Irish government’s strategy went beyond offering physical space and taxation grants, with the development of strategic funding agencies and initiatives.
In 2015, the Science Foundation Ireland’s CÚRAM Centre for Research in Medical Devices launched Ireland’s first stem cell manufacturing centre at NUI Galway. With the goal of positioning Ireland as the leader in medical device technology development, the SFI CÚRAM focusses on delivering affordable transformative solutions for chronic diseases.
Other collaborations between the government, health services and leading universities have further cemented R&D in industry and Ireland’s healthcare system. Take, for example, the establishment of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) at University College Cork in 2016.
Backed by Enterprise Ireland and the Health Service Executive, the HIHI incorporates partnering institutes Trinity College Dublin, NUI Galway, Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and associated hospital groups to lead on ground-breaking research and harness new healthcare technology, services and products.
The development of clinical and patient-focussed research has paved the way for Ireland to lead on the exchange of technology ideas. According to IDA Ireland, government grant assistance is responsible for 70% of medtech companies in Ireland engaging in research and development activities.
The goal to entrench R&D in the medtech sector is fast becoming a reality.
Industry and government alignment
As the medtech industry looks drive its growth, alignment between governmental agencies and key associations have played a major role in making this possible.
The IDA has made Ireland an attractive place to do business. The break-up of the IDA into three separate organisations in the mid-1990s enabled it to focus on driving high-quality foreign direct investment in Ireland. The US-based medtech company Stryker’s 2019 investment of more than €200 million in R&D at its Cork facilities is just one example of the IDA’s success in brokering landmark deals.
Underscoring its support of industry, the IDA recently announced that it is set to deliver a targeted COVID-19 fund, investing a total of €200 million in medical technologies and pharmaceuticals.
In addition to the IDA, the Irish Medtech Association has been vital in championing the needs of multinationals corporations and SME member companies to the Irish government. Sitting within Ibec, the Irish Medtech Association has a clear grasp on what the actual needs of industry are, how to represent them to governmental bodies – and how to ensure Ireland remains a key location for companies to base their operations.
A burgeoning entrepreneurial mindset
There has also been shift in perception on what is means to be an entrepreneur. People want people to be successful. The entrepreneurial mindset is common among university students of today – and there’s an abundance of university-led programmes to develop innovative ideas.
NUI Galway’s BioInnovate Fellowship programme has paved the way for a plethora of successful medtech start-ups. Supported by Enterprise Ireland, BioInnovate delivers needs led innovation based on a proven Stanford BioDesign framework, identifying where recommended solutions would have the most impact.
BioInnovate, like other university-led fellowships, is physically housed in the same place as earlier stage programmes, enabling innovators to meet, network and share new ideas.
In these spaces, the entrepreneurial mindset is the norm, and new innovators emerge in Ireland’s medtech sector.
Ireland as a thriving medtech ecosystem
Taking into account the support from government agencies, industry, clinical and academic institutions, the existence of Ireland’s 300-plus community of medtech companies can be better understood.
It is in this dynamic environment that EU-backed organisations like EIT Health, a network of leading health innovators, have decided to expand their presence in Ireland.
