By Business & Finance 
The Life Science 50, in association with HSBC, is a definitive guide to the top performing life science companies across Ireland, a country now a globally recognised centre of excellence in this industry. Here, we feature the Life Science 50: A-C.
#LS502017
Abbott Laboratories
Abbott has been operating in Ireland since 1946, and is one of the country’s leading healthcare companies, employing almost 3,000 people.
Abbott has six manufacturing facilities located in Clonmel, Cootehill, Donegal, Longford and Sligo, a third-party manufacturing management operation in Sligo, commercial and support operations in Dublin and shared services in Dublin and Westport.
The Group manufactures and markets a broad range of healthcare products including medical devices, as well as pharmaceutical, diagnostic and nutritional products.
Director: Paul Hennessy
AbbVie
In 2013, AbbVie was founded as a global biopharmaceutical company with a focus on addressing some of the world’s greatest health challenges.
Since the company was established, it has focused on a number of research and development projects to advance a pipeline of medicines.
These core areas of focus include immunology, kidney disease, liver disease, neuroscience, oncology and women’s health.
In 2015 the company announced a €40m investment in its Sligo medical device manufacturing facility, creating 50 highly skilled jobs. AbbVie employs over 500 people at five sites around Ireland.
A 15-year research partnership investigating therapies for chronic diseases based in Ireland was announced this year as AbbVie declared it would work with Irish start-up Genomics Medicine Ireland to examine potential genetic triggers for a series of major chronic diseases in the areas of cancer, neurosciences and immunology.
In 2017, the company was named as the third-best large workplaces in Ireland.
General Manager: Todd Manning
Aerogen
Founded by John Power in Galway in 1997, Aerogen has grown to become a global leader in acute care aerosol drug delivery equipment. A medical device and drug delivery company specialising in the design, manufacture and marketing of aerosol drug delivery systems, Aerogen’s patented OnQ aerosol technology is an integral part of its drug delivery systems worldwide.
The company’s technology has benefited over three million patients in 75 countries.
In 2016, Managing Director and CEO John Power was named RSM European Entrepreneur of the Year
Managing Director & CEO: John Power
Alexion
Alexion is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on serving patients with severe and life-threatening rare diseases.
In 2016 the company announced plans to significantly expand its operations in Ireland by constructing a bulk biologics manufacturing facility at the company’s College Park site in Blanchardstown. The construction a new €100m manufacturing facility in Athlone was also announced.
Alexion’s investments in both Athlone and Blanchardstown has created a significant number of local job opportunities, including construction jobs while the sites are being developed as well as full-time Alexion positions.
As we continue to drive forward our mission of serving patients with rare diseases, the expansion of our Irish facilities will be at the forefront of this vital work globally.
Ireland has been home to the company’s supply chain and quality operations base since 2013.
Executive Vice President, Global Operations: Julie O’Neill
Alkermes
Headquartered in Dublin, with operations in Athlone, Massachusetts and Ohio, Alkermes is a fully integrated global biopharmaceutical company.
Alkermes is focused on developing innovative medicines for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. The company is a leader in innovative medicines that address the unmet needs and challenges of people living with debilitating diseases.
President: Shane Cooke
Alltech
Founded in 1980 by Dr Pearse Lyons, Alltech improves the health and performance of people, animals and plants through natural nutrition and scientific innovation.
Alltech is considered one of the top 10 animal health companies in the world, with more than 4,700 employees and a presence in 128 countries.
The Kentucky-headquartered company has its European headquarters and one of its three bioscience centres in Dunboyne, Co. Meath.
Managing Director: Kevin Tuck
Amgen
Founded in 1980, Amgen is one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies.
It completed the expansion of its Dún Laoghaire site in 2015, an aseptic operations facility that was the result of a $300m investment.
The former Pfizer factory now specialises in secondary manufacturing facilities such as formulation, fill, lyophilisation and packaging, and houses laboratory and cold chain warehouse capabilities.
The company is developing the capability to produce all its medicines on-site, and this year the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence backed routine NHS use of Amgen’s Kyprolis as an option for treating patients with multiple myeloma at first relapse.
Kyprolis is an intravenously-administered irreversible proteasome inhibitor that binds to the N-terminal threonine site, causing degradation of the proteins in the cell.
Director: Ian Boyle
Aspen
Aspen is a global supplier of branded and generic pharmaceuticals. The company has 26 manufacturing facilities at 18 sites across the globe, and has approximately 8,200 employees.
In 2014, it was announced that Aspen would expand its Irish operation by adding 42 new high-quality jobs.
The company first established an operation in Ireland in 2010, and later established a global regulatory, pharmacovigilance, quality assurance and supply projects centre of excellence in Citywest in 2012.
Managing Director: Tarique Saiyed
Astra Zeneca
A global biopharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca develops and innovative medicines for cardiovascular/metabolic disease, cancer and respiratory, inflammatory and autoimmune disease.
Currently about 50 people are employed by AstraZeneca in Ireland with a wide range of expertise in different areas including sales, marketing, medical and regulatory affairs, IT, finance and administration.
Its Dublin office serves as a hub of communication between its office-based staff and more than half the company’s employees that are directly involved in promotion of the company’s medicines to healthcare professionals throughout the country.
Worldwide, AstraZeneca invested over $5.9bn in 2016 on research and development.
Recently, shares at the company surged after the success of a drug trial. AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab) received US FDA accelerated approval for previously treated patients with advanced bladder cancer and durvalumab also reduces disease progression in lung cancer patients.
President: Gerry Burke
Bausch + Lomb
Bausch + Lomb delivers a comprehensive portfolio of eye health products, and the company’s core products include contact lenses and lens care products, ophthalmic surgical devices and instruments, and ophthalmic pharmaceuticals.
In 2015, less than a year after it was on the verge of closing its Waterford manufacturing base and shedding 1,100 employees, the contact lens giant announced the creation of 125 new jobs.
It is believed that an extensive restructuring of the company paved the way for the creation of new jobs and the long-term viability of the business here in Ireland.
VP Manufacturing & Supply Chain: Damain Finn
Bayer Healthcare
Since its establishment some 40 years ago, Bayer’s activities in Ireland have seen the life sciences company offer a wide range of products including healthcare, nutrition and high-tech materials.
From crop protection products to world-renowned drug products, to its high-tech platform from diabetes care products to veterinary medicines, Bayer is also one of the world’s largest producers of polymers and high-performance plastics.
Business Unit Head General Medicine: Iwer Baecker
Beckman Coulter
Beckman Coulter develops, manufactures and markets products that simplify, automate and innovate complex biomedical testing.
For 80 years, Beckman Coulter has been a global leader devoted to providing solutions to laboratories of all sizes by offering a broad portfolio of chemistry, immunoassay, haematology, urinalysis, microbiology, automation, information systems and molecular diagnostics.
More than 275,000 Beckman Coulter systems operate in both diagnostics and life sciences laboratories on seven continents across the globe. Its Irish operations are based in east Clare.
Recently, the company showcased the Beckman Coulter Diagnostic Difference – a synergistic combination of tools, insights, management systems and process improvements, which aims to provide comprehensive solutions for healthcare and laboratory professionals.
Managing Director: Piers Devereux
Boston Scientific
Founded in 1979, Boston Scientific (BSC) is one of the world’s largest medical device companies with a portfolio of more than 13,000 products and 15,000 patents. It has sales teams in 40 countries and 12 worldwide manufacturing sites with approximately 24,000 employees worldwide.
The company established its first presence in Ireland in 1994. In 1999, BSC opened its neurology manufacturing facility in Cork and also has operations in Galway and Tipperary: it is one of the largest healthcare companies in the country.
In 2017, Boston Scientific announced that it is to invest €17m in its new endoscopy design facility in Galway.
The Boston Scientific site in Galway was first established in 1994 and employs more than 3,000 people. It develops devices across several therapeutic areas aside from endoscopy, including peripheral artery disease and aortic valve disease.
Vice President Global Sourcing: Mike O’Flynn
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is a leading pharmaceutical company that employs over 27,000 people worldwide. It has been in Ireland since 1964.
The company has two active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing sites at Swords and Cruiserath in Dublin, a global biologics drug product testing lab at Cruiserath, and its external manufacturing division is at Cruiserath and in Shannon, Co. Clare.
In 2014, the company announced a new state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing facility for the Cruiserath site, expected to add between 350 and 400 manufacturing jobs.
Executive Director-General Manager API Manufacturing: Andrew Espejo
Cook Medical
Founded in 1963, Cook Medical is one of the world’s largest privately owned medical device company and employs 12,000.
Last year Cook Medical Limerick celebrated 20 years in Limerick. Here it has grown from a team of less than a dozen people to a staff of over 850 who are designing and delivering life-changing devices every day.
There are now employees from 25 countries working right across the company.
Executive Vice President, EMEA: Bill Doherty
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