A look back at LSC’s European Biotech Week 2017
European Biotech Week celebrated the innovative and vibrant Biotechnology sector and it was certainly a busy week for LSC with a lot of activity, events and information sharing.
The 3 main themes that emerged from the week for LSC were:
Technology
The Biotech industry is changing rapidly both in the manufacturing processes and the complexity of the drugs coming to market. At the ISPE event in Dublin last week Kieran, Annette and James got an opportunity to listen to some of the hottest topics in the Biotech manufacturing sector delivered by excellent industry speakers. A common theme at the event was the need to reduce costs and deliver drugs faster to patients. A theme that will most likely remain as we move towards more complex, individualised Biotech medicines such as the recently approved Novartis drug, Kymriah
The Future
The expansion and growth in the BioPharma market has been well publicised and the feedback from all of the events was that both professionals in the industry and graduates looking to join the industry are extremely positive about future prospects in Ireland. The primary reasons for the positivity were:
- The significant capital investment in state-of-the-art facilities
- The infrastructure in place (NIBRT, EI/IDA, extended Supply base)
- The calibre of staff and graduates
Amid talks of such growth there was also some discussions around some of the possible future impacts on the Irish Biotech sector that we need to be mindful of such as:
- Effect of Brexit (the full impact is still unknown)
- Impact of EU/US tax changes
- Resourcing constraints in key skills due to rapid Biopharma growth (and how the Irish workforce and education system can better prepare for the future skills demands within Biologics).
Graduates
As concerns on future skills shortages are voiced the team at LSC were very active in promoting Life Sciences as a career option to third level students and graduates both home and abroad. The enthusiasm and energy of the graduates looking towards a future in the sector was great to see at the UCC Pharma/Life Sciences and IT/Engineering roadshows and at the CESIF Madrid careers event. At LSC we are always happy to give industry advice to anyone considering a career in the Biopharma sector.