NORTHERN IRELAND A booming Life and Health Sciences innovation sector
The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on supply chain issues in the medical and pharmaceutical industries, but those challenges were neither isolated nor new.
More than 50 years ago, Northern Ireland’s Professor Frank Pantridge pioneered the first portable defibrillator and in doing so improved emergency medical treatment forever. Discoveries like this and many others have helped establish a region that continues to foster new innovations, products, and ground-breaking medical advances today. Recent figures show that growth in Northern
Ireland’s life and health sciences sector is exceeding that of Boston, the number one life and health sciences supercluster globally. Over the past year, the sector in Northern Ireland has had 9% jobs growth and 23% sales growth and is ripe for even further growth and investment. Behind this growth and opportunity is a robust
ecosystem that provides connectivity and fosters collaboration which has made Northern Ireland an ideal place for life and health sciences innovation.
The Northern Ireland Advantage Northern Ireland is home to a uniquely interconnected and collaborative life and health sciences environment. Linking scientific research to clinical outcomes speeds up each stage of the development life cycle, meaning diagnostic results, applications and treatment research can be commercialised and used faster. The region has a long history of success
in the medtech sector, which is supported by government, academia, and innovative indigenous and global companies. Northern Ireland also
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benefits from a strong and collaborative research and innovation environment which is driven by two highly ranked research universities, Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, along with 17 life and health sciences centres of excellence. Northern Ireland’s life sciences sector is
agile and connected, with healthcare solutions reaching more than 140 countries globally. The region is also home to an innovative and advanced manufacturing industry, that has grown three times faster in recent years than in the rest of the United Kingdom (UK), according to Medical Product Outsourcing. One reason for this growth is that medical manufacturers are taking advantage of the region’s capability in plastics and polymers, composites design, and precision manufacturing. As life sciences companies face increasing
demand, Northern Ireland’s manufacturing expertise makes it possible to manufacture pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the same geographical region that research and clinical trials are conducted. With easy access to Europe, Asia, and the Americas, manufacturing in Northern
MEDICA 2023
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