BUSINESS
SFI invests EUR16.5m in bio-chip research
07-09-2005
by
DCU is to be the hub for a research project to develop bio-chips for the medical devices industry, a sector that has significant economic potential for Ireland.
The research will take place at DCU's Centre for Future Diagnostics and Health (CFDH), which was officially opened on Wednesday. The centre will receive up to EUR16.5 million in funding from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), through its Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) programme. A further EUR6.5 million will come from industry partners, including including Becton Dickinson, Analog Devices, Hospira, Inverness Medical Innovations, Amic and Enfer.
The bio-chips will be used for cancer detection and assessing cardiac health, and will also be used in systems that monitor the coagulation of blood.
Dr Maurice Treacey director of biotechnology at SFI, told ElectricNews.Net that the bio-chip project is one of five programmes that will be undertaken at the centre.
He said that the diagnostic medical devices being developed at the centre would help to make medicine more pro-active, helping health professionals and individuals to identify health issues before they become chronic problems.
The centre, which will be led by Professor Brian MacCraith, is expected to employ 60 full-time researchers, and scientists from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, NUI Galway and the Tyndall National Institute in Cork will be involved with the centre.
The medical device and diagnostics sector represents a growth area within the Irish economy, with over 40 companies in the field, including 13 of the top 25 medical device and diagnostics companies in the world. The sector was identified, in the recent government-sponsored Enterprise Strategy Group Action Plan, as an area in which Ireland could excel and in which it could benefit from both a technical and economic perspective.
The entire pharmaceutical sector now employs more than 20,000 people in Ireland and accounts for more than EUR32 billion in exports.
"The medical device and diagnostics sector represents a vibrant growth area within the Irish economy and has been highlighted as one of the areas in which Ireland can develop a position of competitive strength, differentiation and critical mass," said Dr William Harris, director general of SFI in a statement.
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