A team at NUI Galway is to embark on a research project into the biological production of new drugs with one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.
Bristol-Myers Squibb and IDA Ireland are to invest €9.6 million in biotherapeutic research at NUI Galway, in partnership with Dublin City University.
The investment, which was announced by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin, is part of a Government initiative to attract strategically-important research and development to Ireland.
The pharmaceutical industry has seen a major shift towards the biological production of new drugs, known as biotherapeutics. The side effects of biotherapeutics are reduced and they remain longer in the body than chemically-produced treatments, prolonging their effect.
The NUI Galway team, which is managed by the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science (NCBES), will initially comprise up to 14 researchers, three of whom will be Bristol-Myers Squibb personnel, with the rest employed by NUI Galway.
Prof Terry Smith, director of NCBES and associate director of the bioanalytical research programme, said with 65 per cent of new drugs under development being biologically-produced, this campus-industry partnership was very significant.
"The potential for major advances in medical research, together with employment prospects in this area, cannot be underestimated," he said.
"This is a hugely important strategic initiative linking with one of the foremost pharmaceutical companies in the world.
"It will lead to the development of a world-class research capability in biotherapeutics here in Galway, with the potential for much greater employment in the future."
While biotherapeutics have many advantages, the manufacturing process is not standardised. This leads to losses of manufacturing batches costing companies many millions of dollars every year.
The research programme will improve the efficiency of the process, which should lead to more economic production of these drugs and, ultimately, cheaper medicine for patients.
Bristol-Myers Squibb, a New York-based company whose Irish operations are based in Swords, Co Dublin, will collaborate with the two universities, funding a research team at each location. According to Mr Martin, their decision to invest in Ireland may encourage other companies to choose Ireland for their research.
The principal NUI Galway researchers in this project are Dr Alan Ryder and Dr Angela Savage of the NCBES, and the department of chemistry.
Dr Ryder will develop rapid techniques to analyse the raw materials for the production process and Dr Savage will develop novel methods to ensure quality control of the end product.
