Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 May 2013
13. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the impact of patent expiration on employment in the pharmaceutical sector; the way the industry can be supported to maintain employment levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24424/13]
View answerThe last 18 months have seen a reduction in employment levels in some Pharmaceutical companies in Ireland due to the expiry of patent protections, combined with increased competition from other overseas sites. IDA is aware of these factors and has been working for many years to diversify the pharmaceutical base here in Ireland. Patents on blockbuster drugs have expired in the previous decade and, in spite of this, there has been continued growth in the sector.
In growing the pharmaceutical sector, IDA’s strategy has been to win leading company investment and to diversify the breadth of operations over multiproduct sites, including associated services and development of new compounds. Ireland has been enormously successful in attracting eight of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies and the world’s number one biotechnology company to manufacture from Ireland. In addition, Ireland has a large number of companies outside of the top ten who manufacture and successfully export from Ireland.
The Irish Pharmaceutical Industry is an enormously important and highly valued sector. While the industry has been faced with some difficult years due to patent expiration and competitiveness challenges, we are starting to see an increase in R&D productivity with the advent of more targeted biotech therapies and personalised medicines. 2012 saw the highest number of new drugs, 39, approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 16 years, and the predictions are that industry has turned a corner. Ireland is in position to be the location of choice for development and manufacture of a number of next generation drugs. The sector has been performing well in Ireland, with €1.1bn of fresh investment announced in 2012 from five major companies, which will result in 1,200 jobs.
Unfortunately, while some older manufacturing facilities around Ireland have been downsized or closed because of industry consolidation driven by the loss of patent protection on key drugs in recent years, others have been acquired or expanded, in particular, in the area of biopharmaceuticals. Notable examples include the acquisition of two Pfizer manufacturing facilities by the biotech companies Amgen and Biomarin and the €44M and €330M expansions of biotech facilities by Genzyme in Waterford and Eli Lilly in Kinsale, respectively. Biopharmaceuticals represent the next wave of opportunity in the industry and IDA has successfully attracted and developed globally leading programmes from Allergan, Amgen, Centocor, Eli Lilly, Genzyme, Merck, Biomarin and Pfizer, as examples. Ireland now has a globally leading biopharmaceutical cluster in the next generation of Pharmaceutical products.
Government agencies are continuing to invest in research and training to help the academic system support industry. IDA Ireland, through its overseas network, remains committed to maintaining and growing relationships with key decision makers in the pharmaceutical industry and IDA Ireland can offer assistance to companies to support new investment and enhancement of technical capability.
The overall export performance of the sector, therefore, is multifactorial and whilst there are challenges with regard to patent expiration, IDA Ireland has assured me that it will continue to support continuous improvement and transformation in its existing client base while seeking to win new FDI opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector.
