Enterprise Ireland says it invested more than €10m last year on projects aimed at making research in the biotechnology sector commercially viable.This brings its investment in this area to more than €40m since 2001.
Enterprise Ireland's Biotechnology Commercialisation Group (EI Bio) supports the commercialisation of research into technologies that will form the basis of new start-up companies or will be licensed to established companies.
During 2006, EI Bio invested €5.5m in 14 new biotechnology research projects. The projects funded ranged from the development of nanosensors for diagnosing cardiovascular disease to technology for the treatment of tumours in cancer patients to the development of vaccines for fish diseases.
Nine technologies from Irish research institutes were licensed in the biotechnology area and three new biotechnology companies emerged.
Stokes Bio from the University of Limerick develops technology for the diagnosis of cancer; Neuro Research Services from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is a contract research organisation; and Berand from UCD focuses on the evaluating drugs directed against neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.
