THE MINISTER for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has announced details of a new collaboration between the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training and US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.
Micheál Martin announced yesterday that the institute was embarking on research collaboration with Eli Lilly's biologics research and development organisation at its headquarters in Indianapolis in the US.
The collaboration will involve the joint development of ways to monitor the condition of cell cultures being grown for study or experimentation, Mr Martin said.
Such collaborations, he added, were why the institute was established by the Government in 2005.
It was set up to provide a large number of people with high-level skills across the spectrum of bioprocessing activities, Mr Martin said. It operates in conjunction with a number of academic institutions.
Mr Martin, who was joined by Eli Lilly's newly appointed president and chief executive Dr John Lechleiter, was speaking at the laying of a foundation stone at Eli Lilly's plant in Dunderrow near Kinsale where the company is embarking on a €400 million investment.
The investment in a new biopharmaceuticals manufacturing facility, which is supported by IDA Ireland, will see the company recruit some 200 new staff over the next five years, adding to the 430 currently employed by the company at the Dunderrow site.
The new facility will produce medicines to treat illnesses including cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Laboratories supporting the technology transfer and future process development work have already been commissioned and will be fully operational by the end of the year.
