HIRANI co-hosted a Life-Science focused visit to Northern Ireland by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rt Hon Darren Jones MP . This was to highlight the rapid growth and core contribution the Life and health sciences sector plays in the Northern Ireland economy, which is responsible for 25% of our output. The visit included a tour of Axial3D facility who’s 3D printing technology from medical imaging can transform surgical outcomes and efficiency. This was followed by a meeting with Daniel Crawford and Cathy Bradin Department for Business and Trade to explore their recent success and industrial collaborations, and how the connected ecosystem supported their start up, growth, access to talent and export journey.
We discussed how:
- Enhanced regulatory clarity for Northern Ireland would unlock investment. This could work through a dedicated Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency resource for MedTech to align with the proposed Regulatory Innovation Office.
- Northern Ireland has 2-fold capital efficiency for innovative businesses in the health and life science industry in Northern Ireland vs other UK regions such as London, and how we need a sector-specifc National Wealth Fund as a proactive bridge to accelerater the validation of our technologies in global markets and enhance connectivity to commercial skills for scaling.
- There is an opportunity to use our strengths in life sciences in Northern Ireland as a testbed for the transformation of regulatory infrastructure and public services.
We pledge Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (HIRANI) as a Life and Health Science champion to connect and inform policy for future funding for skills and investments to unlock our potential for growth in life sciences industry in Northern Ireland.
