Sanofi, the global healthcare company who employ 800 people at their biopharma and medical device site in Waterford, are teaming up with a locally-based innovation hub.
Sanofi will use 100-sq metres of lab space at Kinetic Labs, an Irish government-supported not-for-profit that rents wet laboratory space to high potential start-ups and established indigenous and multinational companies.
Opened two years ago, Kinetic Labs is the South East of Ireland’s principal laboratory rental location space, offering companies access to over 400-sq metres of rentable wet laboratory space to develop their products and processes as well as office, meeting room and common creativity spaces.
The labs are located in the heart of a thriving industrial and business campus within walking distance of South East Technological University’s Waterford campus; Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC); South East Advanced Materials (SEAM) and the Walton Institute as well as many of Waterford’s largest employers and state agencies.
Commenting on the agreement with Sanofi, Cormac Johnston, General Manager at Kinetic Labs, said:
“Sanofi is a major player in the South East’s economic and social landscape. We are delighted to welcome some of their team to Kinetic Labs and know their work on the next generation of medicines will flourish here. Their coming onboard is another step forward in creating the kind of innovation ecosystem that in turn drives more growth in the life sciences sector and that can only be good news for our region and country.”
For his part, Dr Dikshitkumar Khamar, Head of Analytical Science & Technology, Sanofi Waterford, said:
“We are delighted to team up with Kinetic Labs and really value having access to dedicated lab space so close to our site. What the team here are developing is very exciting for Waterford and it is good for us to be part of that. I know that the colleagues who work at our space in Kinetic Labs also appreciate the environment being created here so it is a real ‘win-win’.”
