Ireland is home to indigenous inventors and innovators who are pushing the boundaries when it comes to medtech and life sciences. Here are 47 to watch.
Ireland is a leading global centre for medical research and product development. With most of the big names already established and new start-ups emerging all the time, Ireland has developed an undeniable reputation as the global capital for pharmaceutical and medical technology firms.
Because of a large foreign direct investment (FDI) base of pharma and life sciences giants, the country is now the largest net exporter of pharmaceuticals in the EU accounting for over 50% of all exports from the country. The sector employs more than 30,000 people in Ireland directly with Irish exports exceeding €100bn.
From medtech to life sciences, indigenous Irish companies have been in export and scale-mode since the 1990s.
The Irish medtech industry alone exports over €13bn to over 100 countries every year, positioning Ireland as the second-largest exporter of medtech products in Europe.
The industry is stable and growing all the time, with 24 of the 25 largest pharma firms in the world located in Ireland and a high number of pharma and medtech companies hiring across the Ireland.
Here are a number of examples of indigenous Irish healthcare, pharma, medtech and life sciences businesses with an export focus:
ACETECH
A global supplier of software and vehicle solutions for the emergency services market, Acetech designs innovative cloud-based fleet performance software, specialist modules for safety, eco-friendliness and asset protection, and intelligent control systems for healthcare providers and government bodies. These solutions integrate seamlessly with emergency service vehicles to help them perform better. ACETECH’s scalable integrated solution helps track all emergency vehicles and assets, coaches safe and productive driving, and reduces fuel consumption.
Aerogen
Aerogen specialises in the design, manufacture and commercialisation of aerosol drug delivery systems. Its patented vibrating mesh technology turns liquid medication into a fine particle mist, gently and effectively delivering drugs to the lungs of critically ill patients. The company, with a wealth of international awards, has a strong international presence with offices in Ireland, UK, Germany, United States, Middle East, Asia and India.
Founded by John Power as Cerus Medical in 1997, Galway-headquartered Aerogen’s acute care aerosol drug delivery devices are used in 75 countries. Customers include 80pc of hospitals in Ireland and 60pc of the top hospitals in the US. In 2021, the company plans to create 80 new jobs at its new 27,000 sq ft engineering labs at Galway Business Park. In 2020, the company announced 50 new jobs after it secured a €30m loan from the European Investment Bank.
Altra
Growing up and working in a family-owned nursing home business inspired Adam Keane to create Altra, a resident experience and family engagement tool that helps care teams, residents and families stay connected. The platform is live in 200 homes across Ireland and the UK and the company, which has bootstrapped itself to profitability, is expanding across Europe, starting in France and Belgium this year after winning a significant contract with one of the largest European nursing home groups. “We help care homes improve wellbeing of residents in senior care. Studies show that seniors are physically and mentally healthier when they maintain social connection and foster relationships,” Keane told ThinkBusiness recently.
AKKURE
NovaUCD-based Akkure Genomics, which is targeting the €60bn global clinical trials market, was founded in 2019 by Professor Oran Rigby, a consultant in intensive care medicine and surgery, and Dr Amy Hollingworth, a respiratory and lung transplant specialist. The company has developed a next-generation clinical trials platform, using natural language processing and artificial intelligence (AI), to provide members of the general public with a means of leveraging their personal medical data to match and access clinical trials relevant to their condition. Akkure is developing the infrastructure to allow patients partake in precision medical trials leveraging their combined genetic and clinical data for powerful personalised trial participation and therapeutics.
AMPLY DISCOVERY
Queen’s University Belfast spin-out Amply Discovery was established in 2021 to commercialise a drug discovery platform developed by the university’s School of Biological Science. The business is focused on the global health threat of antimicrobial resistance and is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to discover new anti-infective products
APC
Established in 2011 by CEO Dr Mark Barrett and CTO Professor Brian Glennon, APC combines its platform technology, ACHIEVE, BioACHIEVE and iACHIEVE, and its globally recognised research team, to accelerate how drug and vaccine manufacturing processes are researched and developed. The company recently revealed plans to invest €25m and will create 120 new jobs through the formation of a ‘Global Centre of Excellence for Vaccine and Advanced Therapeutic Research and Manufacturing.’
ATLANTIC THERAPEUTICS / INNOVO
Atlantic Therapeutics is a Galway medtech firm pioneering a non-invasive wearable treatment for urinary incontinence which it markets as Innovo. Also known as bladder weakness, urinary incontinence is a stigmatised condition that impacts one in three women worldwide, having a profoundly negative impact on quality and enjoyment of life. The technology has offered hope to millions of women worldwide whose only option to deal with bladder leaks has to been to use feminine hygiene pads. In February 2021 the company raised €2m in investment from the Western Development Commission. In January 2022 it raised a further €18m from existing backers.
AURIGEN
Galway medtech AuriGen aims to provide governments and private healthcare insurers with an alternative to the existing expensive multi-procedure therapies which are currently required to treat challenging heart failure/arrhythmia patients. To address these challenges, AuriGen Medical has created the first device to integrate stroke prevention, heart failure monitoring and arrhythmia management in a single 30-minute day case procedure. AuriGen’s devices will include smart sensors which detect changes in the heart in real-time, resulting in earlier and more accurate data. This patient data is transferred live from their handheld receiver at home to the secure cloud which is instantly accessible by their doctor, helping them to intervene faster, preventing hospitalisations, while improving quality and length of life. Founded by Dr John Thompson, Siora MacClean and Tony O’Halloran, the business recently launched a €750,000 crowdfunding campaign and also recently raised €1.75m from institutional investors in Ireland, bringing total funding to over €15m.
BEYONDBMI
Beyondbmi has developed a 12-month weight management programme, designed by the leading medical weight management experts, to enable clients achieve long-term weight loss and health gain in a sustainable way. A UCD School of Medicine spin-out Beyondbmi was founded by medical doctor Dr Harriet Treacy and product designer Peter Lumley with support from senior team members including world-leading obesity scientists and clinicians, Professor Carel Le Roux and Dr Werd Al-Najim, UCD School of Medicine and UCD Conway Institute and Professor Alex Miras, Ulster University. Beyondbmi uses the latest scientific research and therapies to create individually tailored treatment plans which includes detailed assessments, medication, dietary plan, and behavioural health adjustments. The business recently raised €525,000 in a pre-seed funding round.
BLUEDROP MEDICAL
Bluedrop has developed a device which diabetic patients use to scan their feet at home. This scan is then uploaded to the cloud and checked by AI to see if they are at risk of developing a diabetic foot ulcer, which if left unchecked can lead to amputation. Amputations caused by this have increased in Ireland by 45% in the last decade. Bluedrop Medical was founded by Chris Murphy and Simon Kiersey in 2015 to reduce the rate of preventable amputations for people afflicted with diabetes. Across the US and Europe, more than 250,000 amputations associated with diabetes occur each year, resulting in healthcare costs of over €30bn. In 2021, 645 of those amputations took place in Ireland, an increase of 45% over the previous decade. The business recently raised €10.5m in a funding round that will enable it to create 25 new jobs.
CF PHARMA IRELAND LTD
Kilkenny-based CF Pharma is an ISO 13485 and HACCP accredited company based in Ireland that manufactures a range of novel specific Health Food Supplements, Medical Device Formulations and Advanced Topical Dermatological Solutions for both the Human and Animal Healthcare.
CHANELLE PHARMA
Chanelle Pharma, which is privately owned by its founder Michael Burke, is Ireland’s largest manufacturer of generic medicines for human and animal health, achieving sales of over €149m to 30th April 2021, an 11% increase year-on-year. All growth is organic and the company has continually grown its business each year since 1985 – testimony to Burke’s vision and determination.
Chanelle Pharma employs more than 600 people at its corporate headquarters in Loughrea and has offices and warehouses in Oranmore, Co Galway.
A €5m investment two years ago by Ballinasloe-based Chanelle will also see the company invest in warehousing and new manufacturing operations at the 65,000 sq ft facility. Chanelle Pharma will also convert the existing Chanelle Pet premises in Loughrea to a new 35,000 sq ft manufacturing facility.
COTTER AGRITECH
Last year 22 year-old University College Cork student Nick Cotter emerged as the overall winner at the 2022 Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, beating off competition from 1,000 applicants from 40 countries. West Limerick native Cotter is the CEO and co-founder of Cotter Agritech, which specialises in targeted, selective treatment systems for sheep. He co-founded the business with his brother Jack. Cotter Agritech is dramatically reducing chemical use in agriculture via a patented hardware and software system that uses advanced algorithms to enable farmers to transition from blanket treatment with antiparasitic drugs to precise applications targeting only the animals that actually need treatment. “This reduces antiparasitic drug use by up to 50%, reducing costs, preventing drug resistance, and reducing negative biodiversity impacts,” Nick Cotter told ThinkBusiness.
Deciphex
Deciphex offers a range of services for clinical and research pathology, including its Patholytix platform for research pathology. Its Diagnexia clinical service, provides remote subspecialty pathology services. Led by CEO Donal O’Shea, the company’s solutions have already been adopted by leading research organizations and pharmaceutical companies, and its products are trusted by customers around the world. Deciphex recently raised €3.9m, bringing its full Series B funding round tally to €14.4m
DERMVIEW
DermView’s technology enables patients, hospitals and clinics to receive rapid, accurate diagnosis from leading Mohs surgeons, consultant dermatologists and plastic surgeons. It provides Ireland’s fastest route to access a Consultant Dermatologist diagnosis. The business last year raised €1.9m in a three-times oversubscribed funding round. Late last year the business opened an advanced €8m clinic in Lucan, Co Dublin. Dermview has also revealed ambitious plans for Northern Ireland and the UK in partnership with the NHS.
DIACEUTICS
Diaceutics was founded 16 years ago by Peter and Ryan Keeling. In 2019 Diaceutics went public on the London Stock Exchange, raising £17m (€19.5m). In 2020 the business launched its DXRX platform believed to be the world’s first digital platform to solve global cancer testing issues. Underpinned by Diaceutics′ database of more than 227m patient records, the platform will enable the industry-wide collaboration required between pharmaceutical companies, laboratories and diagnostic companies to unlock the power of precision medicine and ensure every eligible patient gets the treatment they need, when they need it.
EMPEAL
A health risk management tool focused on prevention and management of chronic diseases, the Empeal platform gathers medical, nutrition, lifestyle, behaviour data, personal goals data from users through interactive questionnaires and integrated technologies like wearables for practitioners to visualise early trend. These data points are linked using unique algorithms to deliver highly personalised nutrition and lifestyle programmes. Empeal work with RCSI’s Centre for Positive Health and Psychology and are the technology partner of CPL’s Future of Work.
EPICAPTURE
Improving the care of cancer patients through the development of accurate, non-invasive, urine diagnostic tests to identify aggressive cancers like Prostate cancer. Globally, 1.4 million men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 375,000 die from the disease each year. Despite a lack of accuracy, it is estimated that 25m PSA tests are carried out in the US every year. Founder Antoinette Perry’s ambition is that EpiCapture-prostate will run alongside the PSA test in the US and EU, where prostate cancer incidence metrics suggest the market opportunity is significantly larger than the US. In November the business won €10,000 in the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition for best venture stemming from a university.
FLEMING MEDICAL LTD
Fleming Medical pride themselves in having over 30 years’ experience in developing and supplying of medical devices, equipment, diagnostics, consumables and products to both the Irish and international healthcare and pharmacy industries. Fleming Medical are innovators and lead the way in chronic health conditions through the adaption of wearable technology to healthcare solutions. Fleming along with NUIG, RCSI & The Tyndall Institute are developing Dermatrax, the world’s first smart wound care dressing whereby a wound dressing will assess the wound viability via sensors that send the information to an app for a more accurate assessment thus reducing wound care costs and patient discomfort.
GASGON MEDICAL
Gasgon Medical is an award-winning start-up medical device company, based in Cork, Ireland, developing innovative fluid management products for the clinical market. Gasgon tackles the challenges of making IV infusions better for patients and clinicians. In December 2021 the company closed a seed round of €2m to manufacture and launch its premier device, AirVault. The company was recently awarded as overall winner, with a prize of €100,000, at Seedcorn, the largest business competition in Ireland.
HEALTHBEACON
The HealthBeacon Injection Care Management System offers digitally enabled remote care monitoring and support service for patients managing self-injectable medications. The Dublin-headquartered company led by CEO Jim Joyce, last year announced 100 jobs after signing multi-million-dollar deals with US business Hamilton Beach Brands. The company also raised €6m in investment in a round led by Elkstone and Crow Rock Capital, bringing total investment to date to €25m. The company is hotly tipped to pursue an IPO on Euronext Dublin’s junior market.
HEALTHSECTORTALENT
HealthSectorTalent, also known as HST, is an award-winning healthcare talent consultancy founded on a culture that is passionate about transforming the way healthcare providers, state agencies and governments manage the acquisition of both clinical and non-healthcare talent. From creating and delivering talent attraction strategies to designing applicant flows and providing outsourced recruitment process administration, its customisable client-focused talent acquisition solutions support direct supply, hybrid RPO and end-to-end recruitment. By focusing on the entire talent acquisition ecosystem including strategy, processes, attraction and candidate management, HST deliver greater predictability of supply and a lower candidate acquisition cost through a partnership that goes beyond simply filling a vacancy.
HIBERGENE DIAGNOSTICS LTD
HiberGene Diagnostics is a Dublin-based, private Irish company, that develops, manufactures, and markets molecular diagnostic tests for the direct detection of human infectious diseases, using the LAMP (Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplication) technology. In 2020, HiberGene successfully completed the CE marking of a new fast molecular COVID-19 test. Positive results are returned within a few hours, enabling rapid diagnosis of the disease at the early and highly infectious stage of infection. With its expanding HG product line, HiberGene is committed to providing rapid and highly accurate testing solutions, which are cost effective and simple to use. HG tests address the unmet clinical need for a rapid, highly accurate and simple testing solution, making them ideal for use in a wide range of clinical, near patient and laboratory environments.
HIDRAMED
Suzanne Moloney’s HidraMed Solutions has developed a wound dressing system that supports people with Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS), a debilitating disease of the skin that affects one in 100 people. It causes lesions and wounds to form on delicate areas of the body such as the armpit and groin, but can occur almost anywhere. Traditional dressings require adhesives to stay on, which causes irritation and further skin damage.
HidraMed has developed a technology called HidraWear, which enables quick and easy dressing changes and secure dressing retention.
ICON PLC
Icon plc is a Irish headquartered Nasdaq-listed multinational clinical research organisation that provides consulting, clinical development and commercialisation services for the pharmaceutical industry. The company is headquartered in Dublin and has a global workforce of close to 40,000 people. Icon is a leader in the clinical research industry, and its services include protocol development, clinical trial management, data management, and statistical analysis.
INVERA MEDICAL
InVera, formerly Venari Medical, is the creator of a device which it claims is the world’s first medical device to utilise the body’s biological response to treat varicose veins and venous ulcers. The company, based in Oranmore in Galway, was founded by Sean Commins, Stephen Cox and Nigel Phelan and has its eyes on a global market. In the US alone the market for the treatment of chronic venous disease (CVD) is growing 15pc per annum and at current insurer reimbursement rates is valued at €500m.
KERSIA
Kersia is a global leader in biosecurity and food safety with value added products and solutions to prevent diseases or contamination in both animals and humans at every stage of the food supply chain. The company also offers solutions to the healthcare sector. Kersia operates in more than 120 countries with a workforce of over 1,500 people and a turnover of more than €300 million. With Kersia, farmers, food processing plants and retailers have the most trusted partner with the scientific and field experience to identify risks and deliver innovative solutions.
LETSGETCHECKED
One of the fastest growing companies in Ireland, the trajectory of Irish medtech company LetsGetChecked is compelling to watch. The company was founded by CEO Peter Foley in 2015. LetsGetChecked tests cover general health, men’s health, women’s health, and sexual health, and are available in Ireland and other European countries, as well as nationwide in the United States. By combining health data and diagnostic results, LetsGetChecked provides rich health insights to enable better healthcare decision making.
The company experienced significant growth in 2020, with sales increasing by over 800pc year-on-year. LetsGetChecked has also shipped more than 1m coronavirus tests since the beginning of the pandemic. LetsGetChecked is currently working alongside American Airlines, British Airways, and OneWorld to launch a transatlantic Coronavirus testing trial to demonstrate how testing can re-open travel routes and remove the need for quarantine periods. The company has opened a new lab in Dublin and has moved into at-home Covid-19 testing, promising a 24-hour turnaround at €129 per test. Building on experience from its CLIA/CAP/BSL II certified high complexity laboratory based in Monrovia, California, the forthcoming Dublin-based lab will be its first owned and operated laboratory in Europe.
MEDFIND SOLUTIONS
Established in August 2015, MSL Healthcare are active across Irish hospitals and retail pharmacies, focusing on strong, value-added products which make a real difference to patients’ lives. With a combined experience in the Irish healthcare market of over 40 years, it aims to build a quality offering that empowers the physician to make an informed decision regarding their patient’s therapy. A further major strength lies in their ability to access key customers, payers, and stakeholders across all Irish hospitals. Recently, the company commenced the trading of MedFind UK Ltd, which can source and supply UK products for export markets as well as seeking partners for supply of unlicensed medicines to the UK and Irish markets. They also provide distribution facilities to business partners who wish to establish new operations in the UK and Ireland.
MEDSCAN 3D
Founded by husband and wife team James Wall and Jacqui O’Connor, MedScan3D converts 3D scans into 3D-printed anatomical models, rapidly enhancing the turnaround of models for R&D teams. Customers of the company founded in 2019 will include medical device companies, surgeons and trainee surgeons, universities, hospitals and technical sales teams. The company has responded rapidly to the Covid-19 outbreak by making 3D-printed face shields for nursing homes.
MICROGEN BIOTECH
Founded in 2012 as a spinout from IT Carlow by Xuemie Germaine, Carlow-based MicroGen Biotech raised $3.8m in funding in 2020. The company has developed technology to ensure better food safety and soil health by blocking the update of metal by crops on land that has been contaminated and works to break down pollutants in the soil and restore soil to original fertility.
MYBIO
Established 12 years ago by Dr Linda Nolan, Mybio is a premium supplier of research products, technology and expertise and is at the forefront of innovation in life sciences. The company is an exclusive supplier of many of the world’s leading bioscience reagents to the Irish market. “We work with some of the leading brands in life sciences and we represent the brand as if it’s our own,” Nolan told ThinkBusiness last year. MyBio has rolled out what it claims to be the fastest and most accurate antigen test that takes just 15 minutes and is 99pc accurate. The company has secured supply of the MöLab Covid-19 Rapid Antigen Test and is already working with many businesses, including food manufacturers, to contain the virus, and especially to identify asymptomatic carriers before it is too late.
NEKTR
Sligo biotech business Nektr Technologies is developing an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral synthetic compound with far-reaching applications in the areas of human and animal health. Nektr recently raised €1m in funding to develop its ground-breaking new technology, including €500,000 from the Western Development Commission. Nektr’s CEO Frank Boyle previously founded medical device company ProTek Medical, which he sold to Koch Industries in 2016.
NURITAS
Nora Khaldi’s biotech firm Nuritas plans to scale globally in a drive to deliver plant-based peptides after raising $45m (€39m) Series B funding round last year. Nuritas has established the world’s largest peptide knowledge base. Peptides are smaller versions of proteins with the same nutritional power, but with added highly specific benefits. The new funding will accelerate Nuritas’ global expansion and support its mission to unlock the power of nature to make many of the products we consume daily healthier, safer and more sustainable. Last October, Khaldi Nuritas founder and CEO Nora Khaldi was among 17 recipients at the Diversity in Tech Awards, which shone a light on individuals and organisations striving to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
O’FLYNN MEDICAL
O’Flynn Medical is a family-owned company specialising in the supply and rental of medical equipment and service to the HSE, care facilities and private homes across Ireland. Since its establishment in 2002, it has gone from being a small maintenance company working in the healthcare sector, to a company who supply specialist innovative healthcare products across Europe. Scrubex, its scrub management system, has been saving money, tightening infection control procedures and improving the effectiveness of HSE hospital laundries since its introduction into the Irish Health Service in 2008. Now, it is also the preferred solution in Acute Hospitals in the UK and Germany. Its Stryker high end, pressure relieving products are proving to be reliable, clinically effective and cost effective across all areas of the Irish Health Service. The innovative O’Flynn Medical tablet crushing system is now being introducing into the UK market.
ORRECO
Founded by Brian Moore (above), Galway-based Orreco, a leading player in bio-analytics and performance for elite athletes has a client base that includes NBA teams such as the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks as well as being analytics partner to the US National Basketball Players Association (NBA). Its experience within the NBA has made Orreco and its team of PhD scientists global leaders in basketball bio-analytics, developing a deep understanding of the relationship between biomarkers, wearable technology and performance analytics.
PALLIARE
Palliare was founded in 2018 as a spinout from Irish gastro-diagnostic company Crospon, which was acquired by Medtronic in 2017. Based in Galway and with US headquarters in Oceanside, California, Palliare is dedicated to advancing the state of the art in smoke evacuation and insufflation technologies for laparoscopic, endoluminal, endoscopic and robotic surgery. Palliare recently raised $8m in an oversubscribed $8m Series A funding round led by European life sciences venture capital firm Seroba with participation from Luxembourg’s SCM AD Ventures, the Western Development Commission and several private investors.
PLANDOMINO
Based at the NDRC at Portershed accelerator in Galway, PlanDomino is changing the way laboratories across the world manage resources and connect with customers. Led by Dr Greg Heaslip,the company champions “Lean Laboratory Transformation” principles and modern software design. PlanDomino functions as a digital scheduling platform aimed at improving lab efficiency in pharmaceutical and biotech labs and manufacturing environments.
PRIOTHERA
Dublin-founded Priothera was set up specifically to hunt for a treatment for one of the most common forms of leukaemia. The company last year raised €30m in a funding round led by Irish life sciences venture capital player Fountain Healthcare Partners. Priothera will use the funds to progress the clinical development of mocravimod, a modulator of sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) receptors, to enhance the curative potential of allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for treating AML.
Qualio
Founded in Ireland in 2012 by Robert Fenton (pictured) Qualio has a global, all remote team. Qualio CEO and founder Robert Fenton now lives in San Francisco, CA. Qualio’s cloud quality management software supports life sciences organisations with technology and services that allow them to seamlessly manage critical quality processes across their entire supply chain. Last year the business raised $50m in Series B funding in a round led by Tiger Global and including Menlo Ventures and current investors Frontline Ventures, MHS Capital, Operator Partners, Sorenson Ventures, and Storm Ventures. This brings to $63m the amount of funding led by the Irish-founded company to date, including the $11m it raised in a Series A round in 2020. Over the last year, Qualio has experienced unprecedented customer demand, including more than 260pc revenue growth year-over-year. To support this demand, the all-remote Qualio has focused on value-driven hiring — including tripling the size of their team. The company now has more than 500 customers across the globe, spanning the medical device, pharmaceutical, biotech, and contract service provider markets. Customers include notable organisations such as Medable, Paula’s Choice Skincare, Proscia, and Ginkgo Bioworks.
REDZINC
Redzinc enables real-time telemedicine capabilities for healthcare practitioners. Founded by Donal Morris and backed by approximately €40m in EU grants, RedZinc’s managed video platform BlueEye is suitable for clinicians, emergency doctors, paramedics, tele-maintenance and public safety. Live streamed video permits a specialist to see patients or situations remotely, enabling early critical care. Early treatment can improve patient outcomes, save on hospital transfers, patient rehabilitation, hospital beds and waiting times. RedZinc technology also enables service providers to deliver and charge for applications requiring data prioritisation across Public Internet with QoS (quality of service).
RE-VANA THERAPEUTICS
Founded in 2016 Re-Vana is a technology spin-out from Queen’s University Belfast. The company is developing sustained release ophthalmic therapeutics that can reduce the frequency of intravitreal injections required to treat a wide range of retinal diseases, including neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Last year the Queen’s University Belfast spinout revealed that it raised $3.25m (€2.9m) in pre-Series A financing.
RILEY
Founded by three Irish friends during the pandemic, Riley is disrupting period care with eco-friendly products and healthy supplements. It now ships to 34 countries worldwide. Frustrated with the lack of healthy options in the market three friends Fiona Parfrey, Lauren Duggan and Aine Kilkenny decided that a different approach was needed. “We’re on a mission to start a new era for female health, a crucial era for humankind that has been underserved since the dawn of time,” Parfrey recently told ThinkBusiness.
Shorla Pharma
Started in 2018 by Sharon Cunningham and Orlaith Ryan, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, start-up Shorla focuses on developing oncology drugs with a focus on rare, orphan and paediatric cancers. Together with a strong team of scientists, clinicians and an extensive industry network, the company has an advanced pipeline of innovative drug products to treat a number of unmet patient needs. The funding will support the advancement of the product pipeline, along with expansion of technical and commercial operations in both Ireland and the US. In 2021, the company raised €7.4m in a Series A investment round. In recent weeks Shorla secured FDA approval for its leukaemia drug.
SILVERCLOUD HEALTH
SilverCloud Health is one of the world’s leading digital mental health companies, enabling providers, health plans and employers to deliver clinically validated digital health/therapeutic care that improves outcomes, increases access and scale while reducing costs.
The platform, used by more than 350,000 individuals, and growing by over 15,000 users per month, has demonstrated results on par with face-to-face therapy in multiple randomised controlled trials. Beyond its industry-leading results in clinical trials, real-world evidence demonstrates that over 65pc of SilverCloud users have shown significant decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms. More than 300 organisations globally use SilverCloud’s mental health programs. This includes a pilot project with the Health Service Executive (HSE) and over 70pc of the UK’s NHS mental health services.
A spinout from a collaborative project between the NDRC, Mater University Hospital and Trinity College Dublin, in recent months US telehealth giant Amwell agreed to acquire SilverCloud for an undisclosed sum, but which was reported in the media at in excess of €214m.
SPECTRUM.LIFE
Spectrum.Life has set itself apart from other mental health and wellbeing providers through its commitment to the fullness of support across the entire mental health journey. Led by CEO Stephen Costello, a recent €5m funding round will be used to further develop and scale the Spectrum.Life platform, including the expansion of its team and the addition of new features and resources. With its 24/7 access to unlimited mental health and wellbeing support, including a personal Mental Health Coach and Open-ended Therapy at the touch of a button, Spectrum.Life is well positioned to continue its rapid growth and make a lasting impact on the mental health and wellbeing of its users.
SPOTLIGHT ORAL CARE
Set up just six years ago by Dr Lisa and Dr Vanessa Creaven, two sisters who are both dentists along with Dr Barry Buckley, Spotlight has developed safe and effective oral care products that are clinically proven to target your dental needs. Since 2016, the oral care brand has revolutionised the industry, with their toothpaste tubes being the first 100pc recyclable tube in the world. Spotlight Oral Care develops, markets, and sells a comprehensive range of products for specific consumer oral care needs both online and through blue-chip retailers in Europe, the UK, and the United States. The company currently has 17 products in its range, all of which are clinically formulated and tailored to target specific oral health needs using clean, active ingredients. Spotlight Oral Care has experienced significant demand and growth over the past 18 months, with turnover trebling to €19m in the last financial year. In 2022 the company raised €12m in a funding round led by Development Capital that will enable the company to drive its international expansion into Europe and the US.
T-PRO
T-Pro is a global leader in clinical documentation improvement software. Their AI driven solutions enable workflows for efficient and accurate speech recognition, medical transcription, messaging, telehealth, document distribution and coding. T-Pro facilitates a patient centred solution by making it easy for doctors to capture the patient narrative, and by delivering information when it is needed most – at the point of care. T-Pro’s technology allows healthcare providers to voice enable their existing EPR, reduce transcription costs, outsource overflow tasks. Over 500 Client organisations and over 20,000 active users enjoy the benefits of T-Pro solutions today. Recently, T-Pro accelerated AI technology strategy for healthcare with the consolidation of Indian service providers under T-Pro Medical PVT.
WEBDOCTOR
Telehealth platform WebDoctor enables engagement and collaboration between healthcare practitioners and their patients. More than 350,000 Irish patients are registered on its GP platform. Founded in 2013 by Oisin and Howard Kim and Martin Commins, WebDoctor’s parent business Medihive recently raised €7m from investors, which will go towards generating 42 new jobs.
