NIBRT’s Central Role in Ireland’s €460 Million Investment in the Future of Healthcare Innovation

PRESS RELEASE

Dublin, Ireland, 11th of June 2026: The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) will play a central role in shaping Ireland's future healthcare and biopharmaceutical innovation landscape following the announcement of seven new Research Ireland Rinn Centres.

Through leadership and participation in three major national centres spanning advanced therapies, next-generation pharmaceuticals and medical devices, NIBRT researchers will help drive more than €175 million in strategic research investment aimed at transforming how future medicines are discovered, developed, manufactured and delivered to patients.

The seven Research Ireland Rinn Centres announced today by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, represent a total investment of €460 million across 17 research-performing organisations. Collectively, they will support 577 research positions and more than 800 PhD researchers over the next eight years.

Making the announcement, Minister Lawless said:

"The scale and scope of this €460 million investment is a powerful statement of Ireland's ambition in research and innovation. Research Ireland centres have, over the last 13 years, fundamentally reshaped our innovation landscape turning excellent and innovative research into real-world societal and economic impact. Our higher education institutions and enterprise collaborators have been critical to that success. With these seven new Rinn, we are building on this progress by supporting talent, strengthening industry partnerships, attracting foreign direct investment, advancing indigenous industry growth, promoting regional development, and enabling Ireland to remain internationally competitive."

Dr Fiona Killard-Lynch, Chief Scientific Officer and Director of Research and Innovation at NIBRT, said:

"Today's announcement represents a significant vote of confidence in Ireland's ability to lead globally in the development and manufacture of the next generation of healthcare solutions. NIBRT's involvement across advanced therapies, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices reflects both the breadth of expertise we have built and our commitment to translating excellent research into meaningful patient impact."

"These centres position Ireland to tackle some of the most complex challenges in healthcare while strengthening our ability to attract talent, investment and industrial collaboration. Most importantly, they create opportunities to accelerate the delivery of innovative therapies and technologies to the patients who need them most."

Rinn Advanced Therapies

 Prof. Sakis Mantalaris, Principal Investigator at NIBRT and Trinity College Dublin, together with Prof. Owen Smith (Trinity College Dublin), will lead Rinn Advanced Therapies. NIBRT Principal Investigators Prof. Elena Matsa, Dr Alan Costello, Prof. Niall Barron, Associate Prof. Radka Fahey and NIBRT Adjunct Principal Investigator Prof. Nicki Panoskaltsis will also contribute to the centre's research programme.

Awarded over €51 million in Research Ireland funding and targeting a similar level of additional investment from industry and other funding sources, Rinn Advanced Therapies will focus on the development and manufacture of personalised advanced cellular immune therapeutics.

 These therapies have significant potential across cancer treatment and a range of non-cancer conditions, including autoimmune diseases. Delivering them successfully requires the seamless integration of discovery research, therapy design, biomanufacturing, regulation and clinical translation, while also addressing the challenges associated with patient-to-patient variability.

Rinn Advanced Therapies will address these challenges through a personalised quality-by-design approach, helping to deliver the right therapy, at the right dose, to the right patient, at the right time.

NIBRT’s Prof. Mantalaris said:

 "Ireland has a globally renowned pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and a significant opportunity to lead internationally in the development and delivery of advanced cellular immune therapies. Rinn Advanced Therapies will establish a vein-to-vein innovation ecosystem that connects discovery, manufacturing and implementation, while ensuring that patient access, affordability and availability are embedded from the very beginning."

 "Our centre aspires to lead Ireland into the Fifth Industrial Revolution, which places the individual at its heart, by creating a unique nexus of personalised immune cell therapies, data and biomanufacturing. Together, we have an opportunity to build a new era of healthcare innovation in Ireland and deliver the country's first cellular immune therapy."

Rinn Pharma and Biopharma

 NIBRT Principal Investigators Prof. Mark Smales, Prof. Jonathan Bones and Prof. Steven Ferguson are co-applicants in Rinn Pharma and Biopharma, led by our collaborator from the University of Limerick, Prof. Damien Thompson. The centre will focus on two major challenges facing the future of medicines development in creating patient-centred medicines and embedding sustainability across the entire drug development and manufacturing lifecycle.

 Backed by over €60 million in Research Ireland funding and targeting a further €60 million in industry and competitive funding, the centre brings together 73 Principal Investigators from 12 partner institutions, including NIBRT's Prof. Anne Moore, Associate Prof. Colin Clarke and Prof. Niall Barron. Through this unique national collaboration, the centre will help position Ireland at the forefront of developing more effective, accessible and environmentally sustainable medicines.

Rinn Medical Devices

 Awarded €64.5 million in Research Ireland funding and targeting a similar level of additional investment from industry and other funding sources, Rinn Medical Devices brings together researchers, clinicians and industry partners to develop innovative technologies that support healthier ageing and improve patient outcomes. Through Principal Investigator Associate Prof. Radka Fahey, NIBRT is a partner in the centre.

 Led by NIBRT collaborator Prof. Abhay Pandit at the University of Galway, the centre will focus on addressing major healthcare challenges, including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, neurological disorders and cancer, through the development of next-generation medical devices and technologies.

 NIBRT Expertise Embedded Across Three Strategic National Priorities

 NIBRT researchers will contribute expertise across the full innovation pipeline from discovery science and bioprocess development to advanced analytics, manufacturing science and clinical translation.

 Our involvement across three separate Rinn Centres reflects NIBRT's unique position as Ireland's national centre for biopharmaceutical research, innovation and workforce development, with capabilities spanning cell and gene therapies, RNA medicines, advanced protein biologics, biomanufacturing science and emerging therapeutic technologies.

 Importantly, the centres will be able to leverage NIBRT's state-of-the-art research and innovation infrastructure, including the CONCEPT facility, established to accelerate the translation of promising therapeutic candidates towards clinical and commercial readiness.

Speaking at the announcement, CEO of Research Ireland Dr Diarmuid O'Brien said:

 "The Rinn network is about excellent multidisciplinary research, radical collaboration and deep connectivity at scale across 17 research performing institutions, industry, Government, public sector bodies and the broader higher education and research system."

 "Each Rinn will develop world-class talent, drive enterprise engagement with research and reinforce Ireland's international standing by creating a unique research and innovation ecosystem of international significance and scale."

Collectively, the three Research Ireland Rinn Centres position NIBRT researchers at the forefront of efforts to develop the next generation of personalised therapies, sustainable medicines and healthcare technologies. The investment further strengthens Ireland's international reputation as a location where cutting-edge research, industrial expertise and patient-focused innovation come together to address some of society's most pressing healthcare challenges.

ENDS

 About NIBRT

The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) is a global centre of excellence for research, innovation and training in biopharmaceutical manufacturing https://www.nibrt.ie/

 NIBRT is helping to shape the future of medicine by tackling some of the most significant challenges in next-generation therapeutics. Its research spans advanced therapies, cell and gene therapies, RNA medicines, biologics manufacturing and emerging healthcare technologies, bridging scientific discovery, industrial application and patient impact.

 NIBRT is also home to CONCEPT our Core Facility for Early-Stage Biotherapy Development. CONCEPT provides an advanced research environment to accelerate the development of next-generation biotherapies, offering specialised infrastructure and expertise to support early-stage process development, high-throughput screening, and characterisation of novel therapeutics. Through CONCEPT, NIBRT is enabling innovation in cell and gene therapy, protein-based biopharmaceuticals, and emerging biotherapeutic modalities.

 For more information, please visit https://concept-nibrt.ie/

Media Contacts

Emer Norton
Marketing and Communications Manager, NIBRT
Emer.Norton@nibrt.ie

 Laura Breen
Research Impact and Communications Officer, NIBRT
Laura.Breen@nibrt.ie