Environmental Scan 2017: Human Capital Issues within the Medical Devices Sector
Benchmarked Countries
Description
and licensing of novel medical technology developed at
the Mayo Clinic in the US. These innovations would then
be commercialised in Ireland.
o The other objective of this initiative is also to
create at least ten spin out companies out of the
commercialisation initiatives.
Government Incentives
A strong growth driver for Ireland is its Corporate Tax
rate of 12.5%. It is one of the lowest corporate tax rates
in the world. This is in comparison to the US which has a
corporate income tax rate of approximately 35%. One
third of American investors in Ireland have indicated the
low corporate tax rate as the key driver for them to
choose Ireland as their manufacturing hub
Medical device manufacturing companies are entitled to
a 25% R&D Tax Credit. This enables companies to
significantly reduce their operating overheads. This
incentive also encompasses wages and other related
overheads for their machineries and buildings
Talent Development Initiative
v)
Costa Rica
Bio Innovate Ireland
o A program that is modeled from the Stanford Bio
Design Program. It provides in-depth industry
training for young talent via full time immersion
programs in local hospitals and clinics.
Overview
Costa Rica is often promoted as Latin Americas leading
medical technology hub. The number of medical
devices/technology companies have also grown by over
nine times in the last 15 years. The exports of medical
devices have also grown significantly over the years, where in
2015, exports grew by more than 28% when compared to
2014.
Costa Rica is also home to 6 of the top 20 largest medical
devices companies in the world while 6 out of the top 10
cardiovascular device companies have manufacturing plants
in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica has also emerged as a leading location globally,
outside of Europe, for MedTech investment. It has been able
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