1st July 2013
Mr Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Mr Seán Sherlock TD, Minister for Research and Innovation today (Monday) announced funding, through the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, of €30 million to support world-class research at the Synthesis & Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC) based at the University of Limerick.
The Synthesis & Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC) at the University of Limerick will position Ireland as a global hub for the pharmaceutical industry
· SFI investment in the SSPC supports key growth areas targeted in the Action Plan for Jobs 2013;
· Includes investment of €10m from 17 key industry partners in the pharmaceutical sphere;
· Directly supporting 90 top-class research jobs over the next 6 years;
SSPC research is of major relevance to the Pharmaceutical industry in Ireland which employs 60,000 people with exports of €50 billion annually.
1st July 2013
Mr Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Mr Seán Sherlock TD, Minister for Research and Innovation today (Monday) announced funding, through the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, of €30 million to support world-class research at the Synthesis & Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC) based at the University of Limerick.
This exchequer funding is leveraging a further investment of €10 million from industry partners, to the SSPC. The Minister for Finance, Mr Michael Noonan TD and the Minister for Housing & Planning, Ms Jan O’Sullivan TD were present at the announcement. The SSPC is dedicated to supporting the pharmaceutical industry in Ireland, which is responsible for over 60,000 Irish jobs and exports over €50 billion annually.
Announcing the funding, Minister Bruton stated: “The importance of continued investment in excellent science to Ireland’s on-going and future economic development cannot be understated. A central part of this Government’s Action Plan for Jobs is to ensure that scientific research is better targeted at turning the good ideas of our talented researchers into good products and high quality jobs. Investments in science, like today’s commitment to the SSPC, are key to supporting dynamic Irish companies, attracting and developing multinational investment, and ultimately creating the jobs we need”.
Minister Bruton added “This commitment of €40million by Government and industry in establishing a research centre of international significance is a major investment in the future of research in Ireland, in the pharma sector, and ultimately in jobs”.
This investment in the SSPC by Government and industry partners will have major significance in promoting Ireland as a location for Foreign Direct Investment and job creation particularly in the areas of Research & Development and advanced manufacturing.”
Speaking at today’s announcement Minister Sherlock said: “The commitment to fund the SSPC directly supports one of the key areas of growth and focus as identified by this government in the National Research Prioritisation Exercise, namely therapeutics - synthesis formulation, processing and drug delivery.”
Minister Sherlock added: “The excellence, relevance and impact from the SSPC can clearly be seen by the direct involvement of such significant industry partners involved. Companies such as Pfizer, Glaxo Smith Kline, Eli Lilly, Merck, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Clarochem Ireland, UCB Pharma, Alkermes, Abbvie, Eirgen Pharma, APC Ltd, Scale-up Systems, Innopharma Labs, Glantreo, and Amebis Ltd are significant employers in Ireland. Through the SSPC they are demonstrating their respective commitment to Ireland - and an obvious recognition of the talent pool that we have available here. I am also delighted to see that institutions such as Athlone IT, Waterford IT, TCD, UCC, UCD and NUI Galway are all collaborating with UL to ensure the success of this centre of excellence for pharmaceutical research for Europe’s development.”
Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan welcomed the announcement commenting: “The pharmaceutical sector is one of the largest and most successful industries in Ireland responsible for over €50billion in exports annually. The continued commitment by this government to supporting world-class research, like that undertaken at SSPC, will drive growth and bring stability to Ireland’s economy. Funding science at this level positions Ireland at the forefront of research and development at an international level but also brings benefits back to the local economy. The SSPC will strengthen the position of the University of Limerick as a leader in the area of pharmaceutical manufacturing and will attract the world’s best and brightest research talent to this great city and county.”
The Synthesis & Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC) is a unique collaboration between 17 companies, 8 academic institutions and will position Ireland as a global hub for pharmaceutical process innovation and advanced manufacturing. Building a core capability in the area of process R&D will serve to cement the pharmaceutical industry in Ireland. It will help to retain jobs in existing pharmaceutical companies and support local management in the intra-corporate competition for new investment projects. A key theme of the research is its focus on process efficiencies and ‘greener’ chemistry, which will have a positive impact on the environment by reducing and in some cases eliminating the use of environmentally hazardous materials.
The Minister for Housing and Planning, Minister Jan O’Sullivan TD, commented “This is a hugely significant research investment by any standards. As a public representative for Limerick, I am immensely proud that the talented research personnel at the SSPC here at UL have won this significant funding against tremendous national competition under the SFI Research Centres programme. I’m absolutely confident that the top-class work being conducted by SSPC with their industry partners will be a major magnet for enhanced industrial development in Limerick and the surrounding region whilst also bringing environmental improvements which are of some relevance to my own portfolio.”
President of the University of Limerick, Professor Don Barry warmly welcomed the announcement; "As the Ministers have stated, the establishment of the large-scale centre of excellence - the Synthesis & Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre at UL , will have overarching economic impacts for the mid-West region and for Ireland in the retention and creation of jobs in the pharmaceutical industry. I am delighted that in doing so, the University of Limerick is significantly contributing to Ireland’s economic and societal advancement.”
Speaking at the announcement, Prof. Mark Ferguson, Director General of SFI said: “The SFI Research Centres Programme represents the largest ever state industry co-funded research investment of its kind in Ireland. The programme will see €200 million of Irish exchequer funding matched by €100 million in support from industry invested in seven world class research centres of scale, one of which is the SSPC. The SSPC has clearly demonstrated the potential to deliver tangible economic benefits through research excellence, criteria which were critical in the selection of the initial seven centres, a process which was subject to rigorous international peer review.
The SSPC is a world leader in the area of pharmaceutical research and I am both confident of its continued success and excited about the possibilities for this centre of research excellence. I anticipate that SSPC will expand and further leverage this initial investment through successful applications to the EU and through further relationships with industry partners both in Ireland and internationally.”
Ireland is home to 8 out of the world's top 10 pharmaceutical companies and 6 of the top 10 blockbuster drugs are manufactured in the country.
SSPC will strengthen the position of the pharmaceutical companies in Ireland by conducting research to make pharmaceutical manufacturing more efficient, cost effective, and environmentally sustainable, thereby making Ireland more attractive as a location.
Ends
For further information contact, DJEI Press Office: Tel: 01 631 2200, press.office@djei.ie
Christine Brennan, Protocol, Public Relations & Communications Officer, PH 086 781 8441. Christine.brennan@ul.ie www.ul.ie/news Twitter: @ulpressoffice
Notes for Editors
Synthesis & Sold State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC)
The SSPC award funding is being made under Science Foundation Ireland’s Research Centres programme. The SSPC is one of 7 new centres being funded jointly by Government and industry through SFI. These centres involve a total investment in excess of €300m across over 150 industry partners with over 800 top-class researchers.
The Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre at the University of Limerick will carry out research ranging from molecules to medicines with the overarching objective to better understand mechanisms, control processes and predict outcomes for the efficient and environmentally sustainable production of safe medicines.
Ultimately, the economic objective of the SSPC research is to help the pharmaceutical sector to migrate towards more R&D activities, in addition to the current manufacturing operations. Such R&D activities generally provide more value-add to the corporations and help cement the pharmaceutical operations in Ireland. Towards this end, the Centre will provide highly-trained scientists and engineers to the sector, as well as a sophisticated knowledge exchange to increase the R&D capability of the Irish-based pharmaceutical companies. The research will help reduce manufacturing costs and reduce environmental harmful chemicals.
The SFI award to the SSPC will run from 2013 to 2019 and supports 90 top-class researchers.
Lead Principal Investigator: Prof. Kieran Hodnett - Dean, Faculty of Engineering & Science
Number of Industry Partners: 17
SSPC Research Summary including economic impact
The overarching aim of the SSPC Centre will be to better understand mechanisms, control processes and predict outcomes for the efficient and environmentally sustainable production of safe medicines.
This will be achieved by utilising a “molecule-to-medicine” approach that encompasses chemical synthesis, crystal engineering, and drug production and manufacture.
A total of 19 individual projects will be carried out, which all fall under one of three main themes:
· New Frontiers in Pharmaceutical Synthesis: Efficient synthetic routes and processes for molecules that are precursors to potential pharmaceutically relevant materials;
· Crystal Growth and Design: Studying the physical characteristics of crystalline materials and their interactions to understand how to utilise them most effectively as active pharmaceutical ingredients;
· Drug Product Formulation and Manufacture: Using science, and engineering-based knowledge to optimise solid-state pharmaceutics and produce new and improved drug formulations.
Ireland has attracted 13 of the 15 largest pharmaceutical multinational companies to its shores; SSPC are already working with many of these companies to develop new and improved processing technologies, and help to retain the economic value of important drugs, many of which are soon to lose their patent protection.
SSPC - INDUSTRY PARTNERS
Pfizer, Glaxo Smith Kline, Eli Lilly, Merck, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Clarochem Ireland, UCB Pharma, Alkermes, Abbvie, Eirgen Pharma, APC Ltd, Scale-up Systems, Innopharma Labs, Glantreo, and Amebis Ltd.
SFI Research Centres
The new SFI Research Centres programme is an evolution of the SFI CSET & SRC programmes. The objectives are to establish centres that:
· Achieve, maintain or enhance research excellence;
· Deliver significant economic and societal benefit;
· Exploit opportunities demanding a research centre;
· Attract large FDI investments in corporate R&D centres;
· Spin-out new, high-tech start-ups;
· Transfer technology & expertise to Irish MNCs & SMEs;
· Educate next generation of engineers & scientists for Irish MNCs & SMEs (MSc & PhD);
· Undertake joint research projects with industry;
· Provide tangible societal benefit (e.g. Health Service / Education / Social Welfare / Public Sector);
· Each centre will become a hub for platform research areas of national importance, for example, data analytics or renewable energy with an overall investment and operations capability.
ENDS
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