DCU President welcomes €10m collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb
Wednesday 20 July 2005

Pictured at Government buildings were Sean Dorgan CEO IDA Ireland, Paul McCambridge, Corporate Vice-President and Managing Director, Xilinx Ireland, Aidan Brady Country Corporate Officer Citigroup, Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment Micheal Martin TD, Prof. Terry Smith, NUI Galway/Bristol-Myers Squibb Company collaboration Dr. Paul Duffy, Site Leader Pfizer Ringaskiddy, and Dominic Carolan, General Manager Genzyme.

A €10m IDA-backed investment is to establish a major groundbreaking biopharmaceutical research collaboration between pharmaceutical multinational Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dublin City University and NUI Galway, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheal Martin has announced today. The DCU team will be lead by Prof Dermot Diamond, National Centre for Sensor Research.

Revealing five major new R and D investments for Ireland by IDA supported multinationals, Minister Martin said that the BMS programme is the first phase of a long term research engagement by the company in Ireland, and will involve a total of 32 researchers, 25 academic and 7 BMS researchers, in a collaboration over four years.

The aim is to develop new technologies and methods for BMS biopharmaceutical products and processes that could generate annual savings of €40m-€70m in a medium to large biopharma production line.

New York based Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global manufacturer of pharmaceutical and related health care products.

The President of Dublin City University, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, welcomed the announcement, saying : "This is a substantial boost for biopharmaceutical research in Ireland, and will ensure another major boost in R&D. It represents an important milestone for industry-university collaboration, and for partnership between universities.

"Scientists from the partners will be working on campus and within the company in a way that further underlines DCU's policy of bringing world class academic research and major multinational companies like Bristol- Myers Squibb together to provide positive and practical results for the Irish economy. The project also promotes an important partnership with NUI Galway.

"This announcement follows the recent DCU -Wyeth Pharma collaboration announced in June. DCU looks forward to continuing this progressive policy of industry collaboration, with the national benefits that will flow from research successes."

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