Irish State agency Enterprise Ireland says biomedical research at NUI Galway is "revolutionising" the way patients can be cared for and creating high-value research jobs in the process. 

Technologies developed at the university, with funding from Enterprise Ireland, have attracted significant investment from global biomedical testing leader, Beckman Coulter. Beckman Coulter has now established a new Irish-based company, Beckman Coulter Biomedical Ltd. and has signed a four year, multi-million euro collaborative research agreement with NUI Galway which will see the creation of a team of 10 Masters and PhD researchers, based in Galway, to carry out the research programme.

This strategic investment by Enterprise Ireland in technology and IP development  has been key to attracting Beckman Coulter to develop, in Ireland, products for molecular diagnostics worldwide.  Further investment from IDA now supports Beckman Coulter’s decision to grow this business from Galway.

No figures have been published on the investment nor the commitment by Beckman Coulter. We are awaiting information on whether patents have been granted in respect of the technologies.   

Enterprise Ireland says it has been working with NUI Galway on the development and commercialisation of these technologies for almost 10 years, providing research and patent funding and support in finding industrial partners for the emerging technologies. The two main technologies, developed by Dr Tom Barry, Dr. Majella Maher and Professor Terry Smith at NUI Galway, are fundamental to Beckman Coulter’s “sample to result” molecular diagnostics strategy.  

Beckman Coulter plans to develop a molecular platform and has invested in several technology acquisitions and licenses.  The NUI Galway Nucleic acids gene targets are the enabling technology that will unite the underpinning technologies in which Beckman Coulter has already invested.

The agreement with NUI Galway provides Beckman Coulter with “access to intellectual property for the development of tests for infectious diseases including sepsis; hospital-acquired infections; and sexually transmitted diseases, such as Chlamydia and Neisseria,” said Mike Whelan, group vice president of Beckman’s High Sensitivity Testing group.

Dr Paul Roben, Director of Lifescience & Food Commercialisation at Enterprise Ireland said, “Enterprise Ireland continues to support NUI Galway as the university’s biomedical research strategy evolves to bring cutting-edge solutions to the  needs of patients in the healthcare system and bring economic benefits to Ireland.  We are delighted to see these research and commercialisation efforts come to fruition.”

"We are excited to partner with Beckman Coulter on this unique initiative," said Dr. Daniel O'Mahony, Director, Technology Transfer at NUI Galway. "It underpins our commitment to, and support of, research excellence and exemplifies our stated research strategy: creating an environment that values intellectual property and promoting technology transfer and commercialization activity among University researchers and industry partners. This collaboration brings together molecular diagnostic expertise at NUI Galway with automated solution expertise at Beckman Coulter that will result in the development of breakthrough technologies for the diagnosis of a variety of infectious diseases in humans."

Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum—from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of-care testing—Beckman Coulter's 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, California, reported 2006 annual sales of $2.53 billion with 75 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits and services.

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