INDUSTRY FOCUS
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Dr Declan Soden, co-founder and director, MitaMed,which is developing EndoVe, a device to boost anti-cancer drug uptake by tumours
simultaneously receiving tactile stimu- lation through an array on the tongue. This co-stimulation through sound and touch conditions the brain to hear the real soundwhile tuning out the tinnitus sound. The technology behind the device
was developed at NUI Maynooth by Prof Barak Pearlmutter, Dr Paul O’Grady and Dr Ross O’Neill. Trials of MuteButton for tinnitus are ongoing, andMuteButton CEODrO'Neill is now developing the technology to tackle other neurological conditions that could benefit from this non-invasive modula- tion of brain activity. There are benefits to being in Ireland,
according to Dr O’Neill. “The IDA has done a fantastic job in attracting many of the large US medtech companies to Ireland and there has been a lot of an- cillary benefit to Irish companies pro- viding support to these US firms,” he says. “I also believe that there has been
MEDTECH STATS FOR IRELAND
More than 200 companies are currently developing andmanufacturing medical technologies in Ireland.Of those, around 100 are indigenous companies. Key international players include Johnson&Johnson, Siemens,
Medtronic,Baxter,Abbott, Covidien,Boston Scientific,BBraun, Stryker andBD. Indigenous companies include Creganna-TactxMedical, Steri- pack,BMRandAdvantMedical. The Irishmedical devices sectoremploys almost 25,000 people,which
makes Ireland, per capita, the biggestmedical technologyemployer in EuropeanUnion. Ireland directly exports to 95 of theworld’s top 100 countries ranked byGDP.
Figures courtesy of the IrishMedicalDevicesAssociation
immense benefit to the economy in terms of the skills and experience gained by Irish science and engineering graduates. You get the feeling that something really exciting is emerging, and you will find that many of the
people who are involved in Irish medtech start-ups gained their experi- ence with the large US multinational
companies.There is a real buzz of inno- vation and entrepreneurship in Ireland at the moment.”
Issue 4 Spring/Summer 2012 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW 15
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