North West firms target Irish health innovation on mayoral mission

Life sciences companies from Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region have joined a joint trade visit to Ireland aimed at strengthening links with the country’s fast-changing healthcare sector.

A group of 11 life sciences businesses from the North West have taken part in a two-day trade mission to Ireland, jointly led by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Mayor of Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram.

The delegation, which included eight Greater Manchester firms and three from Liverpool City Region, visited leading health and research institutions in Dublin to explore opportunities for collaboration, investment, and innovation.

Organised with support from the GM Business Growth Hub, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and investment agency MIDAS, the mission focused on connecting UK firms with Ireland’s growing digital and clinical health industries.

During the visit, the group met Irish healthcare and research leaders at the Health Innovation Hub in St James’s Hospital and at University College Dublin’s NovaUCD innovation centre. They also attended official events at the British Embassy and at Glencairn House, the residence of UK Ambassador Kara Owen.

Manchester-based MolMart, which provides genetic testing to help parents understand potential hereditary health risks, and Alderley Lighthouse Labs, a leading diagnostics company, were among the delegates.

Dr Markella Mikkelsen, MolMart’s Founder and Chief Executive, said: “This mission has given us valuable insight into the Irish healthcare system and how MolMart’s approach to empowering families could fit within it.”

Alderley Lighthouse Labs Chief Executive Mark Wigglesworth said Ireland’s health reforms presented “a real chance for private laboratories to work more closely with public healthcare partners”.

Janine Smith, Director of GM Business Growth Hub, said life sciences remained one of the region’s strongest growth sectors. “Our businesses are leading innovation at home and abroad, and the opportunities that come from missions like this can have a real impact on local economies,” she said.