The drive to find a vaccine to combat the coronavirus is well underway. Several large pharmaceutical and smaller biotech companies are working on making new antibodies, drugs and vaccines to combat the coronavirus disease but lack of funds may yet get in the way, writes John Whelan.

As the World Health Organisation scrambles for a cure to the Coronavirus, a further crisis is simmering: The global dependence on China for the production of key ingredients in the global supply chain for antibiotics, diabetes drugs, painkillers and also many electronic components for medical devices.

The week ahead may be pivotal for investors and businesses monitoring the deadly coronavirus outbreak — including Irish companies whose supply chains stretch into China — as they scramble to understand whether the economic fallout will be long-lasting.

Mary Buckley, IDA Ireland, outlines key findings in the IDA’s 2015-19 strategy review.

Novartis expects higher sales and profitability this year, lifted by its broad range of drugs, and minimal disruption to its supply chain from the coronavirus outbreak in China.

A company selling a version of an anti-retroviral drug used in the treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS is breaching the Irish patent for the product, it is claimed.

One of the largest industrial lettings in the Cork area in ten years has been confirmed this week.

Relentless innovation can future-fit Cork’s strong biopharma hub, writes Bernard Mallee

Workers at the largest Pfizer plant in Ireland look to be on a collision course with company management after they rejected recommendations from the WRC on the proposed winding up of their Direct Benefit (DB) pension scheme.

Hopes by senior Pfizer management that Irish staff would agree to a phasing out of their Direct Benefit (DB) pension scheme have been dashed after members of Siptu in the Ringaskiddy plant voted overwhelmingly to reject the proposal.

To the unknowing passer-by, yesterday might have presented a similar appearance to Munster Final day as crowds streamed into Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Rather than the spectacle of a hurling or football encounter, however, the legendary venue instead hosted the PM Group’s 40th celebration of business in Cork.

IDA Ireland is experiencing its highest ever level of employment in client companies with all regions experiencing growth.

Helen Kelleher talks to Ken Murphy of CareerWise Recruitment

Paschal Donohoe took as his Budget 2020 baseline scenario the hardest possible Brexit with the UK crashing out of the EU

Young people are snapping up apprenticeships, availing of the chance to “earn and learn” across a range of skills areas not usually associated with the in-house training model.

As the last patents on the erectile dysfunction drug run out, interest in finding new treatments has been renewed. David Cox reports.

A proposed deal between Pfizer and Mylan, pharma giants which between them employ around 4,500 people across Ireland could see the spin out of blockbuster and profitable drugs Lipitor and Viagra into a separate company.

A proposed deal between Pfizer and Mylan, pharma giants which between them employ around 4,500 people across Ireland could see the spin out of blockbuster and profitable drugs Lipitor and Viagra into a separate company.

Pfizer is buying Mylan in an all-stock deal and combining the $10bn generic pharmaceutical company with its own off-patent branded and generic business.

GlaxoSmithKline has beaten second-quarter profit expectations with the help of strong demand for its shingles vaccine, prompting the drugmaker to forecast a smaller fall in profit this year than originally anticipated.

The State’s pricing deal with the pharmaceutical industry ends this year, and the funding of innovation must become a priority, if patients here are to have the early access that patients elsewhere in western Europe have, says Bernard Mallee

Communications firm Edelman has promoted Emma Williams, Jennifer Hyland and David Callaghan, who have been appointed as directors on foot of significant new business wins.

Climate change and energy efficiency were not a priority for many businesses when Cork firm Verde LED began in 2010.

The 50-year history of one of the largest contributors to the Irish economy is being told through a special exhibition launched by Tánaiste Simon Coveney.

Based on several, generally used economic indicators, Ireland is an industrially advanced economy.

A morning-after headache may be the side effect of a pint of plain and a whiskey chaser but at least it’s short-lived — the long-term hangover is the thousands of tonnes of carbon emitted during production.

The owners of the cross-river ferry service in Cork harbour have told Cork County Council they don't believe it's economically viable to put on a second ferry at peak evening times.

Shares in Reckitt Benckiser rose after the consumer goods group posted higher-than-expected sales growth, helped by improvements in both its health and home and hygiene businesses.

Pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Pfizer have said that it is too early to say what the implications are for their Irish staff after a partnership between the firms to create a €10.85bn consumer health division.

Merger plans by pharmaceutical giants who are based in Ireland always raise alarm bells.

Pfizer has lost the final round in a long-running patent battle in the UK after the country’s highest court ruled against it in a case involving its €4.4bn-a-year pain drug Lyrica.

Oxfam has called for swifter action against tax avoidance by multinationals after its research showed pharmaceutical firms used Irish tax law to reduce the amount of corporation tax they paid — to zero in one case.

Ben Hirschler For Christophe Weber, the boss of Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical, securing a $62bn (€52bn) deal last week to buy drugmaker Shire at the fifth time of asking was the easy bit.

After a cyber attack and a botched product launch spoiled Reckitt Benckiser’s 2017, a pricing squeeze threatens to make this year almost as tough.

Swiss company Roche said US tax cuts will boost profit this year, blunting the impact of competition to the company’s top-selling cancer medicines, and joining rival Pfizer which has reported a boost from US President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul.

US stocks powered to their biggest gain in almost nine months as drugmakers and technology companies surged.