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Face Time


Ger Brennan is the Head of the MSD Country Leadership Team and the Managing Director of MSD’s Human Health team. He talks about collaboration and carving a career in STEM.


Education and skills development is also crucial. It’s important that ‘Ireland Inc’ continues to nurture and foster the sector, creating policies that encourage the best and brightest talent from across the world to take up careers here.


There really isn’t an average day in MSD as we work across a range of treatment areas. MSD Ireland is one of the country’s leading healthcare companies, having first established here over 50 years ago. We currently employ over 1,600 employees across four sites in Tipperary, Cork, Carlow and Dublin. To date, we have invested $2.5 billion in our Irish operations and our annual turnover ranks us as one of Ireland’s top 20 companies.


It’s an exciting time to be doing business in Ireland. A lot of our success here is down to our young and talented workforce, as well as a business and regulatory environment that encourages scientific and clinical innovation. Indeed, MSD is now one of nine of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies based in Ireland, with the sector now worth €30 billion a year in exports.


The Government’s R&D initiatives to date have encouraged MSD to position its sites as development centres for our new product


portfolio, and we are developing many of our pipeline products here also, bringing with it considerable investment.


For a small country, we play a very important role in MSD’s global network as our Irish sites manufacture approximately half of MSD’s top twenty products, saving and enhancing lives in over sixty countries around the world.


With the Irish Government’s clear ambition to make the pharmaceutical sector a cornerstone of economic growth,


The largest challenge, facing not only MSD Ireland, but all those working in healthcare, is the on-going issue of how to ensure patients get access to life-changing medicines as quickly as possible. MSD wants to see a system that works for all, is future- focused and has greater flexibility to meet patient needs and to accommodate new, innovative medicines as they are approved.


We’re playing our part in promoting STEM through our partnership with Junior Achievement Ireland. This highly successful STEM Skills programme provides students with practical information and experience and informs them on the range of exciting opportunities a career in STEM offers. Since 2012, 34 primary and secondary schools in Dublin, Cork, Carlow and Tipperary


“Our Irish sites manufacture approximately half of MSD’s top twenty products.”


it’s important to consider every aspect of a country when it comes to looking at how easy it is to do business, from quality of life for employees, to infrastructure and investment cost.


have participated in this initiative, which is delivered by MSD volunteers.


In my time with MSD, I’ve travelled extensively and was based in


35 INNOVATION IRELAN REVIEW


Ger’s 5 golden rules for getting ahead in business


1. Lead from the front: Don’t ask anyone to do something you’re not prepared to do yourself.


2. Don’t be afraid to show your weaknesses: It’s crucial to recognise the areas you aren’t as strong in and then assemble a team with complementary strengths.


3. Bring yourself to work: It’s crucial that people can be themselves in work, celebrate their differences and similarities and focus on the benefits that they bring to the larger team.


4. Have a winning mindset: If you focus on the long-term bigger picture, are decisive, prioritise and don’t fall the first time an obstacle pops up in your path, you’ll do well.


5. Be passionate about where you work and what you do: MSD is an eclectic team including medical professionals, scientists, engineers, IT technicians who all passionately believe in what we do.


Switzerland for a number of years so I appreciate the benefits of living in Ireland. It’s a great base for travel abroad. I enjoy the proximity to everything, which is particularly important for a company like ours with well-established sites around the country.


Success is to be recognised as a genuine partner in the field that you operate in, working collaboratively to improve the environment and bring long-term value and innovation. msd-ireland.com


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