About Us

Mission Statement

BioLink Canada-Ireland is an association of members from the biotech/life science research, commercialization, and business communities in Canada and in Ireland, and others who are similarly engaged and who support the aims of the organization.

The aims of BioLink Canada-Ireland are connecting and fostering relations and interactions among members for mutual benefit, and providing support to the development of the biosciences in commercial, academic and government settings in Canada and Ireland.

Goals

The near-term goals will include:

  • Establishing a Canada-wide network of members to achieve the association's overall aims;
  • Commencing liaison and building working relations with appropriate National, Provincial and Municipal organizations, and Research and Academic institutions;
  • Including the Northern Ireland biotech/life sciences community (and thus access to UK-wide programs), through the existing cross-border network in Ireland;
  • Building links to BioLink USA-Ireland, and leveraging US-Canada-Northern Ireland-Ireland opportunities.

As the network develops the following are some examples of activities that will be considered:

  • Create an on-line forum where members can rapidly be made aware of activities in the biosciences sectors in Canada and in Ireland;
  • Organize a keynote annual conference, which will combine symposia on subjects relevant to both Canadian and Irish members, thus providing the opportunity for networking between organizations with commercialized products;
  • Encourage collaborative efforts and promote opportunities for technology matching, partnering, research and investment between organizations in Ireland and in Canada;
  • Provide mentoring to business and research organizations in Ireland with respect to the development and commercialization of the biosciences, and encourage bio-entrepreneurship in Ireland and Canada;
  • Foster career development opportunities in Canada and Ireland for professionals and students.

Canada and Ireland

Canada is amongst the leading industrial nations in the world. Growth of the economy over the last 7 years was by far the best of the G8 countries, including exceptionally strong employment growth at nearly double the pace recorded in the United States. Future outlook remains very positive and Canada is expected to remain a top performer over the next few years.

The Irish economy outperformed all other European economies in the 1990's recording a growth rate throughout that period of three times the EU average. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit Business Environment Rankings, Ireland will remain one of the most attractive business locations in the world throughout the period 2004-2008.

Canada is number two in the world in terms of the number of biotech companies (approaching 500) with revenues reaching $4 billion, with nearly $2 billion currently invested into R&D annually. Canadian biotech activities support 2,500 organizations and over 200,000 jobs. There are 10,000 products and processes currently under development, and growth in the sector is estimated at between 15-20%.

While Ireland has over 170 companies employing 35,000 people in the Pharmaceutical/Chemical, Biopharmaceuticals, Medical Devices and Diagnostics sectors generating in excess of $60 billion in exports, the indigenous Irish biotechnology sector is at an early stage of development but has considerable promise, as life sciences has been prioritized by the Irish government as a key focus for research and development.

In the order of 40 companies in Ireland are engaged in activities that are primarily based on biotechnological research and/or processes. These include companies involved in biopharmaceutical discovery and manufacturing, diagnostics, pharmaceutical services, bioenvironmental technology and agrifood technology. They include a mix of both multinationals and indigenous companies.

Science Foundation Ireland was established in 2000 to allocate in excess of 600 million Euros in basic research funding during 2000-2006 to life sciences and ICT researchers, and to those working at the interface between the two disciplines, in areas such as bioinformatics and nanobiotechnology. This research funding will be doubled over the next 6-year period. A central component of its strategy is to establish university-based centers of excellence that have significant levels of industry involvement.

Ireland has existing research strengths in diverse areas, including apoptosis, the molecular genetics of human disease, inflammation, immunology, infectious disease, cancer, ocular genetics, bovine genetics, tissue culture, antibody engineering, microbial molecular ecology and food science.

While the Irish sector is still at a development stage, it is recognized by Canadians as a viable bridgehead to other EU biotech clusters, and the Irish can add their expertise and resources to the Canadian and wider North American mix.



© 2006 BioLink Canada-Ireland