US orthopaedic specialist to set up Innovation Centre in Ireland

DePuy Inc, the company that claims to have pioneered the hip replacement, is to set up an Innovation Centre in County Cork to carry out next generation product and process development. The company has received financial backing from the government development agency IDA Ireland, but the size of the investment was not disclosed.

Twenty scientists with qualifications in Biomedical Engineering, materials and quality, will work in the new purpose-built Innovation Centre and labs.

Announcing the investment, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin TD said, “The level of innovation involved in this project is very high given that the work will be at the cutting-edge of precision knee implant design and associated manufacturing processes.”

He added, “It positions Cork as a strategic centre-of-excellence in process and product development and ensures an integrated approach to product development from concept to full commercialisation.”

DePuy, a subsidiary of the healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, has been in Ireland since 1997, when it set up a manufacturing plant in Ringaskiddy. Martin claimed the decision to site the Innovation Centre in Ireland validated the Irish government’s efforts to pull in knowledge-intensive activities that, unlike manufacturing, cannot readily be relocated to Asia or other locations where labour costs are lower.

“DePuy Ireland has operated as a highly successful operation and this investment is a clear endorsement by its corporate HQ of its role in the total global operations.  It also provides a clear example of how Irish companies can build on success and move into additional knowledge-based activities which will give them a crucial advantage over international competitors into the future.”