By Business & Finance 
Pictured at the announcement of EY’s partnership with BioInnovate Ireland (l-r): Aidan Meagher, head of life sciences, EY; Dr Maura Kinahan and Dr Cliona Murphy, BioInnovate fellows; and Dr Mark Bruzzi, programme director, BioInnovate Ireland.
Professional services firm EY have announced a partnership with BioInnovate Ireland – a medical device innovation training programme based in NUI Galway modelled on the prestigious Stanford Biodesign programme.
This partnership comes as EY continues to broaden their support of the indigenous life sciences sector and foster the next generation of digital health entrepreneurs.
With industry, academic and government support, and access to leading academic researchers, clinicians and industry experts worldwide, the BioInnovate Ireland programme facilitates and trains multidisciplinary teams of experienced professionals in the process of matching unmet clinical needs to attractive market opportunities.
Aidan Meagher, EY partner and life sciences sector lead, commented: “Technological breakthroughs are revolutionising the way healthcare is being delivered and, as the health marketplace rapidly changes and evolves to meet new demands, we are excited to partner with BioInnovate to support the next wave of entrepreneurs on the cutting edge of medical device innovation.”
As partners, EY will offer their professional expertise to the early stage enterprises by delivering workshops on fundraising, taxation, valuation and business modelling. EY will also provide access to their extensive entrepreneurial network through the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme to enable the BioInnovate fellows to share their experiences and discuss solutions to the challenges facing entrepreneurial businesses in the medical technology sector.
Dr Mark Bruzzi, BioInnovate Ireland programme director, said: “BioInnovate offers a unique opportunity for innovators to work together in teams to identify and develop new innovations to make an impact on healthcare and the medical device industry. By partnering with EY, BioInnovate aims to build on the supports to enable early stage enterprise in the medical technology sector.”
The BioInnovate programme is led by NUI Galway and collaborates with University College Cork, and other hospitals and Universities across the country. In addition to EY, programme support comes from Enterprise Ireland, Irish Medical Devices Association (IMDA), Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Creganna Tactx Medical, Steripack, Aerogen and Zeus.
