Life Sciences Ireland, a division of the Irish Exporters Association, will today launch an exciting new supply chain initiative entitled ‘Security of Supply and Patient Safety through Good Distribution Practice’ (SSPSGDP). The initiative will target the pharmaceutical and medical device industries and also companies supporting those sectors, which form an integral part of Ireland’s exporting success story. Life Sciences Ireland is the lead partner in the initiative, which is being delivered in association with a Welsh enterprise development organisation, Menter Môn. The project is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Ireland Wales (INTERREG) Programme 2007-2013.
IEA Life Sciences Ireland is supporting the life sciences community in Ireland to maximise their export potential and is developing the initiative to answer the needs of industry at the present time. It is an industry-led development with an advisory group comprised of representatives from Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Boston Scientific, Genzyme, GS1, Helsinn Birex, Pfizer and UCD. The initiative involves the creation of a knowledge portal, which it is hoped will become the portal of choice for the life sciences community in Ireland over the coming years. The portal will host a suite of customised training modules that will deal with a range of supply chain related issues that are of particular relevance to companies operating in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. The portal will also evolve in to an industry communication platform where life science professionals will be able to access information on upcoming industry events, industry trends, compliance and regulatory updates, in addition to sharing information with their industry peers.
Peter Finnegan speaking at the launch
Peter Finnegan, IEA Life Sciences Ireland Manager, who spoke at the launch emphasised the importance of an initiative of this kind in an increasingly globalised supply chain. He noted that “the relevance of this programme can be gauged from industry information that an estimated US$75 billion worth of counterfeit pharmaceutical products were sold in 2010. Any breach of integrity in the supply chain can have catastrophic effects on the patient population and inflict devastating losses on the company whose products are compromised”.