Dr. Michael McCarthy:

The big problem at a top level is trial set-up time. When you open a clinical trial, there is a lot of regulatory paperwork to be covered, there is ethical approval, and there are contracts that need to be negotiated and signed off by the hospital clinical trials team. The lead-in time between the company selecting a hospital as a site and the point at which the hospital can open a trial is too long in Ireland. It makes Ireland a poorly attractive place for companies which have better options in other countries with bigger centres and more patients available. It is hard for Ireland to compete in that setting.