Minister Simon Harris’ confirmation that the Irish government will soon be making a bid to be the new home of the EMA was one of the main talking points at the first BioPharma Ambition conference in Dublin.
Acorn Regulatory’s Brian Cleary at The BioPharma Ambition Conference held in Dublin Castle on September 22nd 2016.
The Minister was one of many expert speakers over 2 days and a range of venues taking part in the first all island biopharma conference. The Minister’s assertion that the government will actively pursue the European Medicines Agency to locate in Dublin came as no surprise to those attending the event in Dublin Castle.
Northern Irish Economy Minister Simon Hamilton MLA speaking at the BioPharma Ambition Conference in Dublin
Earlier in the day Northern Ireland’s Economy Minister outlined how the Northern science sector is growing. With 170 biopharma companies actively trading in Northern Ireland there is much to be positive about he noted. the Minister also spoke at length about his government’s drive to be a centre of excellence in precision medicine. He was one of many speakers that spoke about the individualisation of medicines to bring out more positive patient outcomes. The topic was a consistent theme throughout the day with speakers such as TCD’s Dr. Luke O’Neill outlining the significant developments that have been made in immunology by researchers and companies in the Irish biopharma sector.
Prof Charles Cooney from MIT, an esteemed expert in Chemical Engineering, spoke about the need for those in the commercial sector to assess the clarity of their goals in order to deliver successful treatments to patients. Education, he said, has a role to play in developing treatments, It must prepare not just the workforce, but the leaders. “The leaders need to think globally and they need to think externally. We participate in a global industry and we need to create industries that are externally facing”. he said.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating speakers of the day was Dr. Luke O’Neill from Trinity College. Dr. O’Neill has commercialised a number of companies in recent years and has secured significant VC and other investments for these entities. He spoke about the shortcomings of the sector in the midst of such progress. There are, he said, 7000 known diseases in the world with cures available for only a little over 500 of these. Modern medicine and healthcare has quite a distance to go yet, he said.
Throughout the course of the day there were a number of recurring themes, as already referenced above. However, the large turnout coupled with the overall sense of positivity points to a sector that, in Ireland, is growing consistently. It also points to a sector that is innovating and creating cutting edge technologies and treatments to bring to world markets.
The event was hosted by a number of industry bodies. The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (of which we are an affiliate member), BioPharmachemical Ireland, the National Institute for Bioprocessing, Research and Training and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
