Cirdan is continuing to invest in its future growth within the precision medicine market, creating 46 new jobs over the next four years and undertaking a major multimillion pound R&D project.
The R&D project, which is in collaboration with Northern Ireland’s Molecular Pathology Laboratory (a hybrid partnership between QUB-CCRCB and the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust), will enable Cirdan to develop new precision medicine focused product solutions to meet the future needs of existing and new customers alike.
Professor Manuel Salto-Tellez and Professor David Gonzalez de Castro, from the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology at Queen’s University Belfast , will lead the collaboration with Cirdan.
Professor Salto-Tellez said: “We are delighted to be working in collaboration with Cirdan on this significant precision medicine R&D project. Healthcare providers will have the relevant equipment to create a personalised treatment plan for patients, resulting in an overall better healthcare system in the future.”
Professor Gonzalez de Castro, added: “The current pace of innovation in precision medicine as a result of novel biological and clinical studies demands an urgent development of integrated workflows and healthcare laboratory solutions. This collaborative project is a significant step forward in the commitment to deliver these solutions.”
Invest NI has offered £1.4m of support towards this R&D project and the creation of these new jobs. Making the announcement during a visit to Cirdan’s Lisburn office, Invest NI CEO, Alastair Hamilton said: “Our support is helping this innovative company to scale up quickly. This is part of a strategic focus to support our smaller, potential high growth businesses to realise their full potential and become major employers of the future.”
Hugh Cormican, Cirdan CEO said: “Hospital laboratories are undergoing a major transformation as they adopt to the new workflows and instrumentation required for the emerging precision medicine model of healthcare. Working with QUB, Cirdan intends to be at the forefront of this change and supporting laboratories globally to meet this demand.
“The new jobs will help us identify new markets and new customers and our R&D investment will mean we can develop new products and expand our exports especially into markets such as Oceania and North America, where Cirdan has already established a foothold. The support of Invest NI has been invaluable to allow us to make the necessary scale of investment within the required timescales to allow us to compete effectively in these markets.”
Featured Photo (L-R): Dr. James Gerald Doherty, Cirdan Chairman; Samana Hussain-Brannigan, Technology Executive, Invest NI; Dr. Hugh Cormican, Cirdan CEO; Alastair Hamilton, Invest NI Chief Executive; Dr Frances Weldon, Queen’s University Belfast and Stephen Dunniece, Cirdan R&D Director.
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