€28bn man top of Martin’s hit list

AMERICAN healthcare’s €28 billion man was top of Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin’s hit-list yesterday as his trade visit to drum up business continued.

Mr Martin’s visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US government’s Washington-based specialist research agency, included a meeting with NIH director Elias Zerhouni, the man in charge of the institute’s $28 billion (€22bn) annual budget.

Dr Herzouni’s organisation covers 27 separate bodies that conduct research into cancer, heart and lung defects, the AIDS virus, genetics, alcohol and drug abuse and disorders of the brain and nervous system. More than 18,000 people work for the combined institutes.

State business development agency Enterprise Ireland has a unique agreement with the NIH that makes it the only agency allowed to place staff in the institute. The deal encourages knowledge transfer and gives Irish companies the inside track on NIH research activity.

Enterprise Ireland commercialisation specialist Brian O’Neill took up a position at the NIH earlier this year to promote collaboration between the institute and Irish life science companies.

Enterprise Ireland has targeted specialist drug research and development activity as a major opportunity for companies in recent years. The agency is keen to build on Ireland’s strong reputation in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and use skills developed in small Irish drug firms and research centres in the country’s universities.

Among the Irish companies that have been successful in the American market are Kinsale-based Alimentary Health, a biotechnology company that has teamed up with international consumer products giant Procter & Gamble. Alimentary focuses on the area of probiotics, which are food supplements containing bacteria that are beneficial for the digestive system.

Yesterday also saw two more Irish companies deliver good news in the American market. Dublin-based building controls specialist Cylon announced one of its biggest-ever contracts, which will see it equip a 400,000 square feet high-profile building in Washington city centre with technology to manage its energy and air conditioning requirements. The company also struck a deal with a Washington-based distribution firm to raise its profile in the American market.