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© Arnold Bell Photographer
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The biopharma industry is one of the cornerstones of the remarkable economic success that Ireland has enjoyed over the past decade. Fueled primarily by multinational investment, which has seen 17 of the top 20 global biopharma companies establish operations there since the mid-1970s, the sector is now a key contributor to the national exchequer and currently directly employs more than 20,000 in advanced manufacturing, packaging and R&D facilities throughout the country. It also indirectly supports thousands more who supply ancillary services to this host of world-class operations which helped to establish Ireland as a key strategic location for this US $30 billion export industry.
Ireland's largest full-service engineering, architecture and project management company, PM Group has a long association with the biopharma industry going back over 25 years. Well-versed in the high specification process and regulatory requirements governing the sector, the company's fortunes have been closely linked to the growth of biopharma-related activity in Ireland where it has completed a wide range of multi-million dollar projects for most of the industry's leading global players. Among these are Pfizer, Genzyme, Abbott, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth, Amgen, Fournier Laboratories (Solvay), Takeda, GE Healthcare, Organon (Schering-Plough), Boston Scientific, Elan, Johnson & Johnson (including Centocor and Janssen).
Indeed, of the 17 of the top 20 global biopharma companies operating in Ireland, PM Group is either working on or has recently completed projects for all of them. These have included greenfield plants and facility extensions and conversions. Services include design, project and construction management, commissioning and qualification. These projects employ the latest leading-edge manufacturing technology as well as state-of-the-art clean room systems. One of these projects, Centocor's new US $500 million state of the art biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Cork, was cited by Robert J. Sheroff, Centocor's President Global Biologics Supply Chain, as one of their fastest ever: "I am extremely happy with the progress here, it is running six months ahead of schedule."
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Arnold Bell Photographer
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Global Outlook
Over the past few years PM Group has expanded into international markets and its team of 1,700 employees now provides specialist project and construction management and engineering and architectural design and technical consultancy services to clients in the United Kingdom, Europe, India, China, Singapore and the United States. With biopharma now accounting for up to 80% of total turnover, PM Group's fee earnings for 2008 are expected to exceed US $300 million, more than one-third of which will come from international business.
Following its agreement earlier this year to work on a global basis with leading US biotechnology engineering company CRB, PM Group is now firmly established in the top four full-service providers worldwide and, according to CEO Pat McGrath, is keen to expand its international business further. "We already have a strong presence in the global arena with projects currently ongoing in the US, the UK, mainland Europe, India, China and Singapore, but we are now looking to significantly increase our international market share, particularly in the US," he says. "The PM+CRB Alliance has brought together considerable resources and we now have both the scale (over 2,000 people) and world class expertise to deliver major multi-million and billion dollar projects for our clients in the global life sciences industry." Over the past 18 months, PM+CRB have focused on vaccine projects and are currently working on a number of these complex projects in Ireland, Belgium and Singapore.
McGrath sees PM Group's biopharma focus and full-service offering as two major assets which give it a distinct advantage over its competitors. "Biopharma is the mainstay of our business. PM Group has a long track record of excellence in the industry going back many years and has a proven commitment to retaining it as the key focus for the future through ongoing investment in both capacity and expertise. Indeed, it is unique to find such a large service company with this focus on a particular industry sector," he points out. "Another major benefit is the fact that we are one of very few full-service organizations operating in the sector. As such, I feel we are ideally positioned to take advantage as the major biopharma players seek to reduce supplier numbers and establish strategic partnerships with key suppliers with global capability such as PM+CRB."
US Plans
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Arnold Bell Photographer
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PM Group's expansion into the US market over the next few years will be through a combination of organic growth and acquisition. Focusing initially on serving the biopharma industry hubs along the eastern seaboard, McGrath anticipates that the company will have established a major operation in the States within two years. "We have already taken an important step in this process through our alliance with CRB and we are now well equipped to win substantial new business in the US," says McGrath. "We have always been a client-focused organization and I am sure that the good experience many of the major global biopharma players have had with us in Ireland will serve us well in the US for the future."
PM Group and PM+CRB services
Strategic Site Evaluation & Masterplanning
Process Simulation & Engineering
Concept & Front End Studies
Architectural & Building Design
Project Management & Procurement
Cost Management & Schedule Control
Construction Management
Commissioning & Qualification
Permitting & Environmental Services
Safety Consulting