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‘Ireland is number one in Europe for attracting medtech FDI’

But the industry argues that more R&D and a national plan are required to stay on top

Many of Ireland’s leading medical device companies will gather next week in Cork for the Medtech Rising 2018 conference, which will explore how the industry can deliver better health outcomes and discuss topics such as new technologies and cross-sector collaboration, innovation and growing product portfolios.

The two-day conference is organised by the Irish Medtech Association (IMA) the body within Ibec that represents the medical device and diagnostics industry. The association's 450 member companies employ more than 38,000 people and accounted for €12.6 billion in exports in 2016.

According to the IDA, Ireland is the second-largest exporter of medtech products in Europe. More than 25 per cent of the world's diabetic population rely on injection devices made in Ireland. Fifty per cent of ventilators in acute hospitals worldwide are manufactured in Ireland, while 33 per cent of the global supply of contact lenses is made here.

David Tallon, vice-president of R&D with Stryker is chair of the board of the association. "We represent medical device companies in Ireland – indigenous as well as FDI. Of our 450 members, 60 per cent of them are Irish and 80 per cent of those are SMEs. Ireland is one of the top five global hubs for medtech."

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And the industry here is evolving, with companies increasingly adding R&D and other activities to their manufacturing operations. “They have expanded into other areas of the value chain,” he says. “Some have added global financial services, supply chain management, sales and marketing. We are also seeing a push to attract more R&D.”

It continues to grow. “Ireland is number one in Europe for attracting medtech FDI,” says Tallon. “Several hundred million in new investments have been announced in the last couple of years. The industry here is also the number one employer of medtech professionals in Europe and we plan to add a further 4,000 jobs by 2020.”

Need more R&D

Innovation is central to this success. “Medtech is one of the most innovative sectors with 13,000 patents filed in Europe in 2017, many of them in Ireland.”

That said, he believes there is room for more R&D to be carried out in Ireland. “One of our strategic goals is to grow R&D,” he says. “And not just the spend. We want to grow the scope of the activity and the capability of the industry here as well. We want to be a global hub for innovation – that’s the goal.

“Our conference next week will focus on R&D and partnerships and collaborations with the healthcare sector and clinicians. We will be looking at areas like 3D printing and robotics in surgery. We will be exploring models of collaboration with healthcare professionals. It’s important that we work closely with clinicians so that we ensure clinical value and help reduce the cost of healthcare. We want to use innovation to improve outcomes and increase efficiency.”

The conference will also examine how healthcare is being disrupted by new technologies. “Artificial intelligence, wearables and machine learning are going to have a dramatic effect,” he says. “The new industrial revolution is going to bring disruption. Patients will be presenting to surgeons with wearable devices which will monitor their health status and lifestyles.”

Cybersecurity is going to be important in future, he believes. And Ireland, with its vibrant medtech and IT sectors, is well-placed to deliver the required solutions. “These are two industries that don’t necessarily work together. We see a great opportunity for them to work together in future.”

Staying on top

The industry is in a very healthy state at the moment. However, action needs to be taken to ensure it holds that position. “We have called on the Government to establish a national Centre for Discrete Manufacturing,” says Tallon. “This would look at areas like 3D printing, digital manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and so on. We need to continuously invest to stay at the leading edge. We need a centre with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. It would operate at the junction between research and commercialisation. A lot of European countries have them. We are hoping for an announcement in the next couple of months.”

Talent availability is also crucial for the future of the industry. “Skills and talent are number one,” he says. “We need to produce the graduates and we will have to attract graduates from other countries as well.”

The rewards of a career in the industry are very attractive, and not just financial. “Engineers working in the sector get to work with clinicians and see products they’ve designed save lives or improve the quality of life of people. The feeling you get from that is just incredible. We have lofty ambitions for the sector, but they are achievable if the Government and the industry work together on them.”