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Limerick Council to establish life sciences innovation hub to help boost start-ups

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Life sciences innovation hub – A request has been put out by the council for tenders for a feasibility study to evaluate protentional sites.

The facility will help life sciences, entrepreneurs, and researchers, to explore their ideas, test them, and ultimately grow their businesses

By I Love Limerick correspondent Ellie McCarthy

 In recent years, the life sciences industry has expanded rapidly with capital investment by such firms as Cook Medical and Regeneron.

Limerick City and County Council is looking to establish a life sciences innovation hub to provide laboratory space, along with other facilities. This is to help start-up companies within the region.


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A request has been put out by the council for tenders for a feasibility study to evaluate protentional sites. The study will assess whether the proposed sites are suitable or not. A set of recommendations for developing the concept for the Limerick region has also been produced.

In a tender document published earlier this month, it states that the idea is to create a successful biopharma project in Limerick City to complement existing regional research already out there and development infrastructure, along with the many major multinational firms operating in the mid-west.

In recent years, the life sciences industry has expanded rapidly with capital investment by such firms as Cook Medical and Regeneron.

Earlier this year, Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company, said it would be €400million into a new manufacturing facility in Limerick that would create 300 jobs.

The council document said the life sciences innovation hub would help fill a gap in the science start-up ecosystem in the Limerick area by providing a space where early-stage small firms could get access to expensive specialised equipment and lab space to help them grow.

The document said, “As part of its regular operations, the hub will run regular accelerator and venture development programmes for cohorts of life sciences start-ups, coaching them in entrepreneurial and scientific excellence, advising them on likely routes to investment, and facilitate an environment for peer learning.”

The life sciences innovation hub will help entrepreneurs, and researchers, to explore their ideas, test them, and ultimately grow their businesses.

The project is on a tight timescale, with tenders due in the first week of September. The closing date is September 7 at 5 pm.

Winning applicants will be expected to produce an interim report by November 18 for inclusion in an application for a Regional Enterprise Innovation Scoping Scheme grant.

The entire project is expected to take four months on a budget of up to €42,000.

For more information on the life sciences hub, go HERE

For more stories on Science, go HERE

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