The ARC Hub for Therapeutics, a new national research initiative dedicated to fast-tracking biomedical innovation into real-world therapies and companies, was officially launched today at Trinity College Dublin.
Welcoming the launch, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, said:
“The ARC Hub for Therapeutics represents a transformative model of collaboration, regional innovation and entrepreneurial training in a sector that is critically important to our individual and collective wellbeing, socially and economically. Inclusively harnessing the commercial potential of cutting-edge biomedical research being carried out in Ireland’s higher education institutions will, in turn, produce tangible outcomes such as new treatments, licences, and spin-outs.”
Research Ireland CEO, Dr Diarmuid O’Brien stated:
“A huge challenge for many countries is how we connect our research and innovation systems. The ARC Hub programme is an ambitious new initiative which proactively brings together our leading researchers, entrepreneurs, investors and industry to create an environment where our best and most disruptive research ideas can be translated from the lab to the market. This is about creating a scalable entrepreneurial model which can nurture both people and ideas to create the companies of the future.”
Hosted by Trinity College Dublin, in partnership with RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and University College Dublin (UCD), the ARC Hub for Therapeutics is part of Research Ireland’s flagship Accelerating Research to Commercialisation (ARC) Programme. The programme is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme 2021–2027.
“Ireland’s universities are the engine of our innovation economy,” said Prof. Vincent Kelly, the Hub’s Academic Director. “The ARC Hub brings together the experience and talent of industry, investors, and academia to nurture young researchers and foster a sustainable culture of innovation, enterprise and spin-out formation in therapeutics and medicine.”
Building on an initial portfolio of 22 active research projects in some of the most critical areas of modern biomedical science (for example, addressing unmet needs in gene and RNA therapies, oncology, small-molecule therapeutics, haemostasis and bleeding disorders, vaccines and anti-infective platforms, and metabolic and inflammatory diseases) – the ARC Hub will soon open a new competitive funding opportunity for researchers to translate groundbreaking research into real world benefits.
Enda Hogan, Assistant Director, Southern Regional Assembly, said:
“The ARC Hubs are a cornerstone of Ireland’s ambition to strengthen regional innovation and competitiveness within the European Research Area. They exemplify how EU investment drives balanced growth, enabling regions to contribute to cutting-edge science and commercialisation. Continued partnership with the European Union is essential to ensure that Ireland’s regions remain connected, resilient, and positioned to lead in the global innovation economy.”
Photo Caption: Pictured from left to right are Henry Abbott from the European Commission Representation in Ireland, Dr Siobhan Roche, Director of Research for the Economy at Research Ireland, Dr Colm O’Reardon, Secretary General of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Prof Vincent Kelly, Academic Director of the ARC Hub for Therapeutics, Dr Araz Raoof, Executive Director of the ARC Hub for Therapeutics, Prof Sinéad Ryan, Dean of Research at Trinity College Dublin, Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, CEO of Research Ireland, and Enda Hogan, Assistant Director at the Southern Regional Assembly. Photo by Paul Sharp.
