4th July 2000

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The Centre for Innovation in Biotechnology has been awarded over half a million pounds to support Northern Ireland's burgeoning biotech sector.

Among its projects, the Centre will be working with leading scientists to develop new drug technologies that could help find a treatment for MRSA and other 21st century diseases. It also is developing a database of Northern Ireland's research expertise in biotechnology, and is to develop promotional activity to ensure the province's biotechnology successes get the public visibility they deserve.

Commenting on the new funding, the Director of the Centre, Dr Jeremy Carmichael, said:

"The new funding will significantly strengthen the Centre's ability to assist research staff to identify and protect intellectual property arising from the £50 million spend on R&D in the sector each year in Northern Ireland. It is essential to raise awareness of the importance of protecting our ideas and continue to improve the level of interaction between researchers and companies to accelerate the development of new products and services from innovative ideas. This will lead to improvements in the quality of life for the people of Northern Ireland and give a much greater return on the significant investment made each year in research in this sector."

The Centre - which works with both Queen’s University, Belfast and the University of Ulster, will use the new funding to assist all research staff working in the Life and Health Technologies in areas covering pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, biomedical and clinical science, animal and plant health, food science and environmental biotechnology. A new Intellectual Property platform funded under the programme will employ a dedicated Technology Transfer Officer to advise researchers on intellectual property and identify biotechnology research with commercial potential.

Dr Michael Comer, the newly elected Board Chairman said:

"The Centre represents a unique opportunity to bring together key players from the biotechnology community representing the research base, industry, the hospitals and government agencies with a view to shaping future strategy for biotechnology development in Northern Ireland. This new award for Northern Ireland biotech comes at an exciting time for biotechnology globally with the announcement a few days ago of the first draft of the DNA sequence of the human genome and at a time when neighbouring regions notably Scotland and the Republic of Ireland are investing heavily in Biotechnology as a key driver of economic development."

The Centre also today announced the composition of its new Management Board, representing the broad biotechnology research and development community in Northern Ireland.

The membership of the Board includes:

Dr Michael Comer (Chairman), Belfast-born and a former head of Research & Development at Boehringer Mannheim in Germany, one of the largest Pharmaceutical companies in Europe, and President of the Irish BioIndustries Association;

Professor Brian Hogg, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development at Queen's University, Belfast;

Professor Bernie Hannigan, Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Ulster and Chairman of the Life and Health Technologies Panel of Northern Ireland Foresight;

Professor Roger Marchant, Head of the School of Applied Biological and Chemical Sciences at the University of Ulster;

Professor Cecil McMurray, Chief Scientific Officer at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland;

Mr Peter Keeling, Chief Executive of Diagnology Limited, the Belfast-based biotechnology company specialising in the development and marketing of point of care diagnostics;

Dr Ken Baird, Director of Research and Development at Moy Park Limited, one of Northern Ireland's largest food processing companies;

Dr Jim Ryan, Director of BioResearch Ireland; and

Dr Jeremy Carmichael the current Director of the Centre for Innovation in Biotechnology.

The Centre will also seek advice from separate Business Development and Scientific Advisory Groups on how best to facilitate the commercialisation of individual technologies on a case by case basis.

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk