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In the space of two decades, Ireland has developed into the location of choice for global MedTech companies. With investment in innovation and R&D on the increase, the country is shaping the


direction of the industry, not just in the years, but the decades ahead. Donal Nugent reports.


M


edical technology (MedTech) is essentially any technology designed


to tackle the diseases and conditions that challenge our lives. Recent decades have seen a proliferation of new devices that are transforming medical care, both in the medical and home


environments. The


excitement, from an Irish perspective, is not just


around how such innovation is


dramatically improving quality of life, but how companies have made Ireland integral to the process. The list of MedTech companies making the country a centre of excellence for major operations reads like a who’s who of global players, and with good reason: 18 of the world’s top 25 MedTech companies have


FDI operations here.


A knowledge and skills intensive industry, the sector employs some 29,000 people here, a figure that MedTech Europe says makes Ireland the highest per capita employer of MedTech professionals in the EU. With exports worth €12.6 billion annually,


well over 2,000 new jobs announced since 2014 and €960 million in investment announced in the industry here in 2014-2015 alone, it’s clear that not only is the industry thriving in the immediate term, but is busy planning for a sustainable and successful future as well. A 2016 report by Evaluate sets the global context for MedTech’s opportunity.


employer of MedTech professionals in the EU.”


With annual market growth of five per cent, it estimates the global medical device and technology market will be worth some €440 billion by 2022. As the companies profiled here confirm, Ireland’s place in this story is firmly at the cutting edge.


STRYKER Among the technology innovative


companies,


world’s leading medical Stryker


products and services in orthopaedics, medical and surgical, and offers highest per capita “Ireland is the


The Stryker Innovation Centre in Cork neurotechnology and spine that help


improve patient and hospital outcomes. In Ireland, the company employs some 2,700 people in seven plants across two locations – five in Cork and one in Limerick. Here, a diverse


company’s activities across all its locations here. “The Irish research and new product development (NPD) groups are viewed as of critical importance


to Stryker’s overall range of R&D and


manufacturing is undertaken, underpinning the company’s reputation for world-leading solutions in spine, hip and knee system implants, bone cement and bone substitutes, surgical bone saws, micro-rotary burrs and neurovascular coils and stents. In December 2015, Stryker opened the


surgery-focused Innovation Centre in Cork, a state of the art prototyping and test facility with a simulated operating room that is not only the first of its kind in the country, but unique among Stryker facilities. Director of Research and Development and Innovation Centre leader, Kevin Manley, explains that the new facility allows R&D teams and surgeons to collaborate


globally in the


development and evaluation of new surgical approaches and product concepts. “The Innovation Centre is a global centre of excellence


cutting, shaping and removal of bone and soft


tissue. Since


for medical devices used for it


opened, we have


welcomed over 300 healthcare professionals who collaborate with our development teams in products that are improving patient outcomes, and procedural innovations that reduce operating room time.” The focus on innovation permeates the


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innovation and R&D journey,” Kevin says. Among life-changing outputs from this R&D are products that have a major impact on how stroke is treated. “The suite of products now available from Stryker’s Neurovascular division allows the disease state to be accessed through the vascular system, mitigating the need for major surgery. These dramatically improve patient outcomes while preventing the typical morbidities associated with this devastating disease.” Also at the cutting edge of innovation is


Stryker (Anngrove), the Cork facility that develops and manufactures 3D printed components. “The manufacturing operation is the only one of its kind in the company, making it the global centre of excellence in additive manufacturing for Stryker,” he points out. In Limerick, meanwhile, Stryker Craniomaxillofacial (CMF) R&D is focused on the development of innovative surgical closure


techniques through the use


of


bioresorbable biomaterials – materials that can be broken down by the body. Stryker is proud of the links it has forged


with Irish universities, which further strengthen the company’s reach in the area of innovation. “Collaboration between the Innovation Centre and University College Cork Medical School, for example, has


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