Creating new opportunities to commercialise Irish innovation

Leading US healthcare provider Northwell Health renewed its strategic alliance with Enterprise Ireland during the Med in Ireland event. Northwell Health is one of the largest healthcare providers on the US east coast, with 23 hospitals, 77,000 employees and more than 16,000 affiliated physicians providing healthcare to more than two million people.

The new strategic relationship builds on an earlier agreement with Enterprise Ireland which saw Northwell Health engage with Irish medtech companies and provide access to clinicians and key decision-makers across its extensive healthcare network, develop and commercialise new medical technologies, and collaborate in joint ventures.

“This agreement further validates what Ireland has to offer in healthcare provision and medical technology worldwide and presents significant opportunities for innovative Irish companies to commercialise and co-develop new innovations and enter the US market,” said Stephen Creaner, Enterprise Ireland’s executive director with responsibility for the industrial, life sciences, research and innovation divisions.

Explore

The agreement has enabled the company to explore the potential of new solutions being offered by Irish companies, according to Elaine Brennan, executive director of global strategic partnerships at Northwell Health.

“Through our agreement with Enterprise Ireland, we are able to pursue relationships with innovative companies whose technologies bring benefits to our patients while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our care delivery. With these collaborations we hope to commercialise medical technologies to benefit patients around the globe. The strategic alliance with Enterprise Ireland is one of many overseas relationships in which Northwell is engaging as it takes a global view to identifying the most innovative solutions and partnerships.”

The partnership has delivered concrete benefits to the Irish industry over the years, with seven Irish medtech companies including Salaso Health Solutions, Technopath Clinical Diagnostics, i360, Kite Medical and Meditec Medical securing partnerships with Northwell. In addition, the company has met with more than 120 companies over the years, providing them with valuable strategic advice and directing them to the right business or clinical stakeholder where appropriate.

“The agreement between Northwell Health and Enterprise Ireland supports Irish medtech companies to expand their business footprint in the US and build capability from within through innovation and collaboration,” said David Corcoran, who manages the life sciences sector in the US for Enterprise Ireland.

“Having a world-class healthcare provider such as Northwell enter into these strategic partnerships is a great endorsement of what Ireland has to offer in healthcare provision and medical technology, and further confirms Ireland’s status as a global leader in healthcare solutions.”

Two-way arrangement

The alliance is very much a two-way arrangement, according to Corcoran. “It has opened up a up a process for Northwell to engage with Irish companies through Enterprise Ireland,” he said. “We have been able to engage with Northwell to identify their key focus areas and what they are looking for in new technologies. We have been able to explore supply chain opportunities with them and opportunities to co-develop technologies and solutions with Enterprise Ireland client companies.”

Beyond specific business opportunities the alliance also offers Irish companies valuable insights into the inner workings of a large US healthcare provider. “Northwell is the largest provider in New York and the company has been able to give Irish firms an understanding of how to navigate the procurement pathways in a healthcare organisation of that scale,” Corcoran noted. “This is a key area for us and Northwell has continued to dedicate time to engaging with client companies.”

Those insights can help Irish companies to make better decisions in relation to their strategy for the US market. “It may lead to them reassessing their approach and deciding to start with smaller targets.”

Northwell has been a very active partner over the years and has participated in every Med in Ireland event since 2017 while working with Enterprise Ireland on other initiatives such as the US Healthcare Steering Committee. Formed at Med in Ireland 2019, the committee includes 12 senior procurement and other executives from US healthcare systems.

Solutions

“The committee meets about every six months, and it provides an opportunity for healthcare providers to talk about their challenges and where they need solutions which could be provided by Irish companies,” said Corcoran. “It provides a closed-door setting for them to engage with Irish firms on those issues. We also organised an Enterprise Ireland medtech masterclass in the US in mid-July. Twelve hours. That provided an opportunity for 48 Irish life sciences companies who are looking to enter US market to meet with experts from US health systems including Northwell to talk about the market and how to navigate procurement systems.”

For Northwell, the alliance offers early access to Irish innovation. “They get to see what our client companies are working on and what solutions are being developed for problems they are facing. That can offer opportunities for joint ventures and other arrangements to commercialise those technologies. They can also tell us what their areas of focus are for the next 12 to 24 months and we can bring that to our clients to see what solutions may already be in development. Overall, it has been a very successful arrangements and I am delighted that we have renewed it for a further two years.”