R&D investment boost for Covidien

One of the town's leading employers, Covidien, has announced a €25 million investment in six research and development projects at their plants in Ireland, one of which will be based at their Cornamaddy plant which it's hoped may yield new positions in the future. The healthcare company, which employs over 520 people in the town said today (Wednesday) that six research and development projects will be undertaken in partnership with the company's facilities in Galway and Athlone involving the development of respiratory care products for ventilation and airway management. The IDA supported investment in conjuction with Covidien and the Irish government represents an investment of more than €25 million and will create an as-yet undetermined number of research positions, the company confirmed in a statement. The boost for the Athlone plant comes after Covidien announced its intention to transfer the manufacturing line for one of its products to Thailand back in September and would be seeking up to 100 voluntary redundancies as a result. However, this week it was better news for the company locally as Jose E. Almeida, President and Chief Executive Officer of Covidien, maintained that Ireland's well-established record of fostering successful innovation was key to the decision to locate the projects in this country. "These advanced research and development projects represent a significant future pipeline of innovative products for Covidien. They also may produce important data to further patient health and safety." "Innovation is and will remain a critical contributor to our Company's strong competitive advantage in the medical devices market, to Ireland's business growth and high-technology job creation, and to the world's economic recovery," Mr Almeida added. The announcement of the projects was made in Dublin with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, and with Head of Medical Technologies at IDA Ireland, Gus Jones. "This announcement is great news for Athlone and Galway, and represents evidence of Covidien's strong commitment to high-end activities in Ireland. It is a welcome endorsement of Ireland's record in research and development and represents a further boost for the vibrant medical devices sector here. With the right policies we can ensure that this announcement is replicated across the country in the coming years, and I am determined to make sure that happens," the Minister said. Mr Jones from the IDA commented that the projects being announced today will reinforce Ireland's position as a global hub for medical technologies, employing the highest number of medical technologies personnel per capita in Europe. "Nearly 60 percent of the medical technology companies with operations in Ireland conduct R&D locally, which is important for the sector's continued growth and vitality," he said. The projects involve the development of respiratory care products for ventilation and airway management. Two projects will be managed at the company's plants in Athlone and Galway. The other four projects will be conducted at independent facilities in Ireland on behalf of Covidien. They include projects with BlueBridge Technologies, the Biomedical Diagnostic Institute of Dublin City University and the NUI Galway. These six projects are the latest in a series of Irish research projects underwritten by Covidien. A year ago, Covidien announced that it was investing €900,000 with the IDA in two medical technologies research projects with NUI Galway. Covidien also announced in 2010 an €11 million investment in a state-of-the-art European Services Centre in Cherrywood, Dublin, which employs 200 people. Covidien now employs more than 1,500 people in Ireland.