2008 Press Releases

Key Biotech US Trade Mission visits UCC
25.06.2008

UCC yesterday (Tuesday, June 24th 2008) hosted a visit by a top group of US delegates including the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Illinois, Pat Quinn. The group are on a three-day the visit to Cork for a business networking event.
The delegation was welcomed to UCC by Mr Michael O’Sullivan, Vice President for Planning, Communications & Development,  Professor Fergus Shanahan, Director, APC and Professor Colin Hill, APC. During the course of the UCC visit, the group held meetings with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland. Professor Alan Kelly, Dean of Graduate Studies, UCC led the group on a tour of the Food Processing Unit and Microbrewery.  A round-table meeting with SME's (Cybercolloids, Deoxy Ltd, Cybercolors Ltd, Celtic Sea Minerals, and Alimentary Health Ltd) followed.  Senior managers from industry including Carbery and Kerry Group also met the delegation. The visit concluded with a visit to the President's Office. The delegation will visit the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) and Tyndall National Institute tomorrow morning (Thursday, June 26th 2008).

The Illinois region presents very significant market opportunities for Cork companies. The US Mid-West is home to the third largest concentration of bio-tech industries in America and the purpose of the visit, which has been organised by Cork County Council, is to position Cork as a centre of bio-technology for key decision makers in Illinois and to facilitate continued investment in the Cork region.

A Sister River Agreement is also due to be signed by the Lieutenant Governor and the Mayor of Cork County which will twin the Illinois River and the River Lee. Speaking ahead of the visit, Martin Riordan, Cork County Manager said "The primary purpose of this mission is to lay the framework for greater bilateral trade and investment opportunities between the two cities. We believe that now is the perfect time for Cork to showcase the developments made in the county in the biosciences over the past number of years. Our visitors from Illinois bring with them key insights for the progression of this area and we hope to learn from their experiences during the visit.”

Over the past number of years, Ireland has attracted the key players in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.  Cork is home to a number of these global names such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Janssen, Centocor, Eli Lilly, GE Healthcare, Gilead (formerly Altana Pharma), Schering-Plough (Brinny), among others.

Picture shows L-R:  Professor Colin Hill, APC and Microbiology Department, UCC, Dr Michael Murphy, President, UCC,  Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, Cork County Manager, Martin Riordan and Professor Fergus Shanahan, Director APC, UCC.

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