Innopharma Technology was delighted to find out on 20th July that they were one of only two Irish companies to receive funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme and one of 65 EU based companies to receive funding in the latest round. Horizon
2020 is the biggest ever EU Research and Innovation programme, with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020). The fund was established to encourage breakthrough discoveries and world-firsts, taking great ideas from
the lab to the market.
The European Commission received 1,644 proposals from a broad range of sectors, and a proposal and competitive pitch process were used to select the final 65. The funding allows companies with new innovations to take a product idea from initial lab-based
proof of concept and scale it for market launch through support for activities like demonstrations and testing, as well as through coaching and acceleration services.
Innopharma already works with 8 of the world’s top 10 Pharma companies. They have an existing suite of smart sensor & analytics products (Industrial IoT/Industry 4.0) to help improve the effectiveness, accuracy, and efficiency of the pharmaceutical
development and manufacturing process, these include the Eyecon2, Multieye2, and their latest launch, SmartX process automation solution.
This newly funded product development is called SmartCrys, which offers manufacturing intelligence, process automation, and data analytics for the development of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). Following 6 years of R&D into the various pain
points, API manufacturers experience, Innopharma has identified a unique gap in the API development process, and their innovative solution will enable drug manufacturers to produce APIs in a more consistent, quality-assured and efficient way. Through
enabling a real-time data analytics view of product development, SmartCrys aims to revolutionise the API manufacturing process, bringing it into line with newer, smarter manufacturing methods grounded in Industry 4.0.
SmartCrys will consolidate Innopharma’s position as one of the world’s leaders in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies within the pharmaceutical sector and will provide an opportunity to achieve a company turnover of €37 million over the
next five years and to grow staff from 56 to 70.
Dr. Sean Costello, Director of Innopharma Technology, said: “This award recognises the drive and innovation of Innopharma to bring to market leading-edge advanced manufacturing technologies and to solve critical challenges within the pharmaceutical process manufacturing industry. The award is driven by the culmination of several years of technology development by Innopharma alongside our industrial customers, academic partners, support from Enterprise Ireland and their Horizon 2020 team, and collaborative exchanges with partners in the PMTC and SSPC. The award enables us to double down on our commitment to play a leadership role in delivering Pharma 4.0 transformational technologies.”