Matrix - Northern Ireland Science Industry Panel

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Northern Ireland’s Life & Health Sciences sector consists of around 60 companies, which had a combined turnover in 2005 of £400 million. These businesses create wealth through products as diverse as medical devices and diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and bio-pharmaceuticals and medical disposals, as well as biotechnology-based services and clinical trials. The whole sector employs approximately 4,000 staff, many in genuinely sustainable, high-value jobs. 28 of the Life & Health Sciences companies in the region are R&D active (some very intensively so) and in 2005 they spent some £33 million on R&D, directly employing 600 R&D staff in the process. It is no secret that some of Northern Ireland’s most notable commercial success stories in recent years have come from within this sector.

This is, in our opinion, a sector full of commercial opportunities and if we can set out, support and implement the right strategic approach, the Life & Health Sciences will make a key contribution to developing the knowledge economy of Northern Ireland. Given our region’s small size in the context of this vast global sector we cannot hope to excel at everything. We must therefore identify the key R&D capabilities and future market opportunities to exploit for maximum economic return over the medium to long term. We - and our colleagues on this Horizon Panel - will endeavour to bring forward to MATRIX a suite of recommendations aimed at achieving the potential of this sector in a Northern Ireland that is fully connected to the global market.