Research agreement
The National University of Galway in Ireland has agreed a four-year collaborative research programme in molecular diagnostics with Beckman Coulter Inc, a manufacturer of biomedical testing systems.
Although Beckman has a manufacturing facility in Galway, this is the first collaborative research project undertaken the company in Ireland. The collaboration will involve the creation of a research team of 10 Masters and PhD researchers and builds on intellectual property already developed in the university.
The deal underpins the government’s attempts to establish Ireland as strategic location for R&D, and to foster novel approaches to R&D through innovative investments and industry academic partnerships.
It is anticipated that success in this project could lead to future manufacture of Beckman’s molecular diagnostic assays in Galway.
Mike Whelan, Group Vice President of Beckman Coulter’s High Sensitivity Testing group said, “With these agreements, we will take a big step toward the launch our ‘sample-to-result’ molecular diagnostic system, including a differentiated menu of moderately complex tests that address urgent clinical decisions. The agreements give us access to intellectual property for the development of tests for infectious diseases including sepsis; hospital-acquired infections; and sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydia and neisseria.”
The work will be carried out at the university’s National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science and the Microbiology Department.
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