Centre set to Increase Skills in Biomanufacturing

A new NIBRT-GE Single-use Centre of Excellence, where up to 1,500 professionals are expected to receive training annually has been opened at NIBRT’s Dublin facility, as part of planned development announced in Sept 2016, to boost biomanufacturing skills and expertise in Ireland, Europe and globally.

“The NIBRT are delighted to launch today (June 8) the NIBRT-GE Single-Use Centre of Excellence, which will enable us to provide high-quality training programmes in all aspects of single-use biopharma manufacturing. In addition, we look forward to working with our clients on a broad range of process development and optimisation activities in this innovative centre,” said Dominic Carolan, CEO, NIBRT.

The Dublin facility will also support training of staff at GEBioPark Cork, a GE-managed campus including four prefabricated, off-the-shelf biologics factories owned by independent biopharma companies manufacturing proprietary medicines, which is creating up to 500 jobs.

“The biopharma industry is growing rapidly; of the top ten therapeutics on the market today, eight are biopharmaceuticals. Our customers are constantly looking for flexible ways to improve capacity and the efficiency of their manufacturing operations. We need to foster innovation and partner with the best to respond to this need – with the NIBRT partnership and GE BioPark Cork we are doing exactly this,” said David Radspinner, General Manager, BioPark, GE Healthcare.

Training activities at NIBRT are expected to be operational in autumn 2017, with registration now open. The partnership with GE is initially signed for three years with the objective to upgrade the equipment after that date.