Jobs at risk due to blood supply
Audit Diagnostics, Cork, is looking to relocate its R&D business overseas.
This reflects the current difficulties of obtaining blood and tissue samples from Irish hospitals for use in clinical trials and R&D.
The end result could be the loss of eight jobs to a foreign location.
Chief executive of the group Michael O’Donovan says his experience is just a microcosm of what is happening in the sector, which employs 22,000 people.
It the situation isn’t resolved, thousands of jobs could be lost, he warned.
Tightening restrictions on making blood and tissue samples available for research has meant few clinical trials were carried out in Ireland over the past year, he said.
In the past companies were able to source blood samples in Ireland. Recent controversies about the use of human material in research have resulted in hospitals stopping this practice.
Last week the Irish Medical Devices Association (IMDA) welcomed a Council for Bioethics report which laid down the first set of comprehensive guidelines on the ethical use of human biological material.
It provides “a vital platform for action to resolve the current impasse”, the IMDA said.
The medical technology sector exports products worth in excess of €6 billion per annum.
