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: J-P.
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Janssen
Janssen Pharmaceutical is one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical organisations and is part of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) family of companies, the largest diversified healthcare group in the world.
Janssen joined J&J in 1961, and offers products for a wide variety of conditions from infectious diseases through mental health to neurologics.
The company’s main facility in Ireland is at Little Ireland, Co. Cork, where it has invested over €100m since the early 1980s. The company also has an operation at Liffey Valley in west Dublin.
Country Director: Leisha Daly
Jazz Pharmaceuticals
In February last year, Jazz Pharmaceuticals announced that it had commenced construction of a manufacturing and development facility to be located on a 17-acre site in Monksland, Co. Roscommon, approximately 120km east of the company’s Dublin headquarters. This is the first manufacturing facility to be built by Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
In 2017, the company made solid progress with its drug JZP-110, while it also reached a patent settlement for its star performer Xyrem. The company also expects the FDA to deliver its verdict on Vyexos later this year.
The company recently announced positive efficacy data from Phase III studies evaluating its lead candidate JZP-110 in adult patients with excessive sleepiness (ES) associated with narcolepsy and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). With these positive study results, Jazz plans to file a new drug application (NDA) with the FDA later this year.
Executive Director & Site Leader: Alan MacNeice
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its subsidiaries have a strong, varied presence in Ireland. The J&J group of companies has been operating in Ireland since 1935.
In 2016, the group officially opened its new €53.2m 320,000 square-foot DePuy Synthes facility at Ringaskiddy in Cork, adding 80 jobs to the estimated 800 already on-site. J&J also has several facilities in Dublin, as well as its Janssen operations in Dublin and Cork.
The group also announced a €100m investment at its Vistakon contact lens manufacturing operations in Limerick during 2016, and Vistakon has been rebranded to Johnson & Johnson Visioncare. The J&J group employs around 2,500 in Ireland.
Country Manager: Mark Coffey
Malin
Malin is one of the newest players on the life sciences scene, having raised €330m in its Irish Stock Exchange IPO in March 2015, as well as a further €42m private round in July 2016.
The company, led by CEO Kelly Martin, has made investments in 16 life science companies since then: five science and discovery investments, six clinical, and five commercial, including the high-profile 3D4Medical app publishers.
Malin’s purpose is to create shareholder value through the selective long-term application of capital and operational expertise to private, pre-IPO, pre-trade sale operating businesses in dynamic and fast growing segments of the life sciences industry.
The company has offices in New Haven and Cambridge, in addition to its Dublin headquarters.
Chief Executive Officer: Kelly Martin
Mallinckrodt
Mallinckrodt, a leading global specialty biopharmaceutical company, develops a number of pharmaceuticals and global medical imaging products used to help treat a wide variety of health conditions, from pain to central nervous system disorders as well as autoimmune and rare diseases.
The company announced a €45m investment to expand its Dublin-based operations in 2015, building a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and office building at College Business and Technology Park at Blanchardstown in Dublin.
It was recently announced the the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to MNK-1411, a long-acting formulation containing cosyntropin acetate under investigation for the treatment of duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
Vice President Global External Supply and Managing Director: David Keenan
Medtronic
Medtronic is the global leader in medical technology, providing a wide range of products and therapies with a particular focus on the treatment of heart disease.
Medtronic has been present in Ireland since 1999 and its facility in Galway is a centre of excellence for the development of a number of the company’s key medical technologies for the treatment and management of cardiovascular and cardiac rhythm disease.
In 2015 the company announced a new €13m drug-coated balloons technology manufacturing facility for Galway, where it employs around 3,000. Medtronic also has a sales and shared service office at its Swords headquarters in Dublin, and it employs more than 4,000 people in Ireland.
Profits at the company jumped 13% last year with growth in all its divisions, reporting a profit of $4bn.
Vice President, Global Vascular Operations: Gerard Kilcommins
MSD
Pharma giant MSD has invested over €2.2bn in Ireland over 50 years and the company has eight operations here, in fields as diverse as animal health and global financial services.
Last year the company announced 200 new jobs for its Carlow, Cork and Tipperary operations.
Today, MSD’s Irish sites are involved in the production of over 60% of MSD’s global top 20 products.
The company is to create 330 jobs in Ireland over the next three years, it was announced in May. The positions will be split between the Carlow and Cork plants and will bring to over 1,900 the number of employees the company has in Ireland.
The expansion of the US-headquartered company’s operations in Ireland will be driven by a €280m investment in production facilities at both sites.
Managing Director: Ger Brennan
Mundipharma
Mundipharma Pharmaceuticals has been providing healthcare solutions to the Irish market since 1973.
The company is best known for its concept of effective molecules into delivery mechanisms so that patients can benefit from improved effectiveness through reduced or improved dosing methods. This approach has led to an impressive list of pioneering firsts for the company, including the world’s first prolonged release morphine tablets, the first seven-day analgesic patch and Ireland’s first prolonged release analgesic.
Mundipharma’s largest area of expertise lies in analgesics, but it also has a rapidly expanding oncology portfolio and a very promising respiratory franchise.
The company is headquartered in Sandyford, south Dublin.
General Manager: Ian Sutton
Norbrook
Established in 1969 by the late Lord Ballyedmond, Norbrook is one of the largest privately owned veterinary pharmaceutical companies in the world.
The company’s extensive, multi-year capital investment programme commenced in FY16 to help strengthen the company’s position in the global animal health market.
Norbrook has embarked on a significant multi-year capital investment programme, which includes the upgrading and expansion of our manufacturing capability, new laboratory facilities, and significant investment in its global IT infrastructure.
Norbrook’s new laboratory facilities on one site in Newry will be mirrored on another site in Newry in 2017 to strengthen its scientific division and support our quality commitments across the business.
Pre-tax profits at the company jumped by 65% to £35.5m in 2016, the company announced in its latest results. Revenue in the 12-month period by 11% to £239m.
Exports now account for more than 80% of Norbrook’s revenue, and sales in the US in the last financial year contributed £66m of its turnover.
Chief Executive Officer: Liam Nagle
Novartis
Novartis was created in 1996 through the merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz. It is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers and produces many well-known drugs including Theraflu, PrevAcid, and Excedrin.
In Ireland, Novartis operates pharma sites in Ringaskiddy and Dublin.
It also operates an Alcon ocular lens manufacturing facility in Cork, which it acquired in 2012.
It established the Novartis Global Service Centre in Dublin’s Ballsbridge in 2013, one of five such centres worldwide; the Dublin centre handles scientific and commercial services, IT, HR and procurement.
Novartis employs approximately 1,600 people across three locations in Cork and Dublin.
General Manager & Country President: Loretto Callaghan
Ovelle
Ovelle was founded in 1934 as a traditional manufacturing chemist in Dundalk, Ireland.
Today, the company produces its skincare ranges in a fully integrated research and manufacturing facility in Ireland.
Ovelle’s scientists work to combine advances in skincare with a long tradition in dermatology to create a wide range of licensed and OTC skin healthcare.
Managing Director Joanna Gardiner is a former chairwoman of Dundalk Institute of Technology.
Managing Director: Joanna Gardiner
Perrigo
Headquartered in Ireland, Perrigo is a leading global healthcare supplier that develops, manufactures and distributes over-the-counter (OTC) and generic prescription pharmaceuticals, infant formulas, nutritional products, animal health, dietary supplements, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), and medical diagnostic products and receives royalties from multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.
In 2015, Perrigo announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a portfolio of well-established OTC brands from GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK).
The company recently announced the launch of its generic of Endo’s Hycodan (hydrocodone bitartrate and homatropine methylbromide oral solution). The drug is indicated for symptomatic relief of cough in adults and children six years of age and older.
Executive Vice President, Global Operations & Supply Chain: Ron Janish
Pfizer
Pfizer is one of Ireland’s largest pharmaceutical sector investors and employers. One of the first pharmaceutical companies to locate in Ireland (1969),
Pfizer has a rich heritage of innovation and expansion and currently employs over 3,500 across seven locations in Cork, Dublin, Sligo and Kildare.
Ireland is a leading research and manufacturing base for Pfizer globally, with the Irish arm of the company manufacturing some of Pfizer’s best-selling and newest medicines. Total capital investment by the company in Ireland exceeds $7bn, and in 2015 the company announced 130 jobs for its Dublin and Cork operations.
Vice-President: Paul Reid
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